Top 5 International Run Scorers in a Calendar Year

It is often seen with great players that once they gain form, they perform well with consistency for a long period of time. As a result, it is seen that many of these greats pile up truckloads of runs in a year. In this article, we are going to list out Top-5 players who have scored most runs in a calendar year across formats. Four of these five aggregates have come in the last six years. It can be attributed to run-scoring being easy and the preferable rules for batsmen. However, this reason is still debatable and is often used to glorify the batsmen of the previous era. The list includes one Indian player as well and two of the players in the record have retired. Let’s have a look at the record list. 5. Kane Williamson – 2692 runs (2015) Kane Williamson. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Kane Williamson displayed brilliant form in 2015 when he scored 2692 runs in 46 innings at an average of 65.65. He hit 8 hundreds and 14 half-centuries this year. 1172 runs among these came in Test cricket at a great average of 90.15 with 5 tons including a high score of 242 not out. In ODIs, he accumulated 1376 runs at an average of 57.33 with the help of 3 centuries and 9 fifties. These runs also came at a great pace with strike rate being 89.87. He also scored 144 runs in 4 T20Is at a strike rate of 165.51 with 24 fours and 1 six. It included a sole half-century with a high score being 57. 4. Virat Kohli – 2735 runs (2018) Virat Kohli. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) Indian captain Virat Kohli started the year 2018 with a bang scoring 3 ODI centuries in the very first limited over series of the year against South Africa. He carried on with the same form throughout the year and scored heaps of runs. In the 47 innings, He registered a total of 2735 runs with a splendid average of 68.37. The majority of these runs came in the Test and ODI Format. In the longer format, Virat hit 1322 runs at an average of 55.08 which included 5 hundreds and 5 fifties. In the ODI format, his numbers were beyond imagination in 2018. He piled up 1202 runs in just 14 innings at an incredible average of 133.55. He hit 6 centuries and 3 half-centuries during that interval. In the T20I format, he accumulated 211 runs in 9 innings. 3. Virat Kohli – 2818 runs (2017) Indian skipper Virat Kohli. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) In the year 2017, Virat missed the record of hitting most runs in a calendar year by just 51 runs. He missed last 6 matches of this year (3 ODIs and 3 T20Is) due to his marriage, after which Rohit Sharma honed the duties as Indian captain against Sri Lanka in limited over series. Virat scored a total of 2818 runs in 52 innings with average being 68.73. These include 11 scores of over a hundred runs and 10 half-centuries. In the test format, he accumulated 1059 runs in 10 matches with a high score of 243. In 50-over format, he hit 1460 runs at an average of 76.84 including 6 tons and 7 fifties. In T20Is, he scored 299 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 152.55. 2. Ricky Ponting – 2833 runs (2005) Ricky Ponting. (Photo Source: Twitter) Ricky Ponting displayed spectacular form in the year 2005 when he aggregated 2833 runs in 58 innings. These runs came at an average of 56.66. He held this record for over 11 years until 2014. The former Australian skipper hit 9 centuries and 15 half-centuries this year. In Test cricket, he scored 1544 runs in 28 innings at an average of 67.13 with a high score of 207. In the 50 over format, he had 1191 runs to his name with 3 hundreds and 8 fifties. Ponting was also part of the inaugural T20I match this year, in which he played an unbeaten knock of 98 runs. This is still the highest score in T20I on debut. 1. Kumar Sangakkara – 2868 runs (2014) Kumar Sangakkara. (Photo Source: Twitter) Former Sri Lankan player Kumar Sangakkara holds the record for scoring most runs in a calendar year across formats. He hit 2868 runs in 2014 with an average of 53.11. It includes 8 tons and 18 half-centuries. Indian captain Virat Kohli came very close to breaking Sangakkara’s record in 2017 and 2018 but missed at the end. After Virat missed on an opportunity to go past Sangakkara in 2017, the Sri Lankan legend praised Virat and said the prolific Indian batsman will break his record soon. I don’t think that will last long the way @imVkohli is batting. He will probably overtake it next year and then do it again the year after. He is a different class. — Kumar Sangakkara (@KumarSanga2) December 6, 2017 The former wicketkeepers’ record is still intact and it is to be seen whether who will be that batsman who achieves this feat in upcoming years.