Stats 2017: Batsmen with most runs in International cricket

2017 witnessed some incredible batting performances by all the teams in International cricket that nearly created new records and broke a few from the past. This year had the fastest T20I century achieved twice, an ODI double hundred after three years and some big centuries were recorded in Test cricket. Many other individual batting performances were recorded in course of the year while the emphasis was on neutralizing the competition between the bat and ball.

It is not a surprise to see the players from India and South Africa occupy more spots among the top ten batsmen with most runs in 2017 across the three formats of International cricket given their dominance at home throughout the year. Virat Kohli leads the list of batsmen with most runs for the 2nd straight year as he was the leading run-scorer in 2016 as well with 2595 runs in the International cricket. Kohli’s dominance in 2017 can be observed with a glance at the difference between him and the next best Hashim Amla who has 2073 runs.

England’s new Test skipper Joe Root (2092) is the only other player with 2000 International runs this year. If he hadn’t opted out of the limited-overs leg of Sri Lanka’s tour of India, Kohli could have broken the record of most International runs in a calendar year.

Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella and the senior pro of the side, Upul Tharanga managed to make a decent impact despite their team’s below-par performances throughout the year. Dickwella played some good knocks in all the three formats while Tharanga had a lot of impact in limited-overs cricket.

Despite not playing any International cricket till the Champions Trophy in June, Rohit Sharma pushed his name into the top ten run-scorers list of 2017. The Indian limited-overs opener aggregated 1766 runs this year at an impressive average of 65.4 in 32 innings. He scored eight hundreds this year standing only behind Kohli’s 11 centuries. Rohit’s opening partner Shikhar Dhawan too starred with the bat having put up 1637 runs with five centuries, all of them coming against the Lankans.

South Africa’s Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock scored over 1600 runs across formats this year at a decent average. Australian captain Steven Smith, who featured in only 24 games this year, made 1754 runs in 33 outings at an average of 64.96. No player from New Zealand could make it to the list due to the fact that they played fewer games this year. In fact, they didn’t play any International cricket for three months after the conclusion of the Champions Trophy.

Top ten batsmen with most runs in International cricket in 2017:

(Stats updated as on December 30, 2017)