At the beginning of cricket history, not many liked this sport due to its very long tenure with the possibility of being drawn after playing for 5 or more days. Since the introduction of ODIs every game began interesting and cricket-lovers’ interest developed over time. Undoubtedly, this sport is being considered as the religion in many countries now due to its craze and epic endings. Test cricket ave birth to ODIs and then more shortened format i.e. T20 Cricket has evolved.
Many awards evolved over time in order to make this game more and more interesting. The Cricket Regularization Institute in the world – ICC – started introducing many ranking systems together with plenty of factors to make it more fascinating and engaging.
Similarly, ICC has introduced the batters and bowlers ranking systems in all three cricket modes which is currently the talk of the town in Modern day cricket.
Who is the No. 1 ODI Batter?
Who is the No. 1 ODI Bowler?
Who does hold the record for most consecutive days as the No. 1 ODI batter?
How many consecutive days did Virat Kohli remain the No.1 ODI batter?
There’re plenty of questions being searched and asked about these ranking systems and current in-form players. ICC updates all such rankings on every Wednesday and as per today’s stats Babar Azam stands on top in the ICC ODI batting Ranking since April 2021.
Batters with Most Consecutive Days as No.1 in ODIs
- Sir Viv Richards: A Cricketing Icon
West Indies’ cricketing icon Sir Viv Richards holds the most number of consecutive days as the No. 1 ODI batter. He remained No.1 ODI batsman for 1748 days which is most by any batter. The legendary Viv Richards became the No.1 ranked ODI batter on 8th January 1984 and none had overthrown him until 20th October 1988.
Sir Viv Richards, the most destructive batter of his era, was part of world cup winning sides of 1975 and 1979. He has played a total of 187 ODIs scoring 6721 runs averaging 47 and strike rate of above 90. Scoring at such a rate in those epochs was simply remarkable. A player facing fast bowlers without wearing helmets would have been so deadly and courageous at the same time. Moreover, he also holds the highest career best all-time batsman rating with 935 points.
Also Read
ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 List of All teams
ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Team Squads
ICC Cricket ODI World Cup 2019 Top Runs Scorers
- Micheal Bevan: A Legendary Middle Order Batter
The Australian Master Blaster Micheal Beavan is 2nd in the list with 1259 days as the most Consecutive days as No. 1 ODI batter. He achieved this feat on January 22, 1999 and remained unbeaten until 3rd July 2002. The finest middle-order batter, Bevan was the part of Australian team winning 1999 and 2003 ICC Cricket WC.
Bevan, the left-handed batter was famous for his finishing quality and innovative Strokeplay. He has played 232 ODIs for AUS scoring 6912 runs and averaging 53.6 with a strike rate of 74.20. His highest career best ODI rating is 885. It’s the 17th best All-Time ODI batting Rankings.
- Virat Kohli: The Great Indian Goat
The modern day cricketing legend Virat Kohli stands at 3rd in the list of Most Consecutive Days as the No. 1 ODI batter. He remained No. ICC ODI batsman for 1258 days. He topped the list and surpassed AB de Villiers on 22nd October 2017 and remained on top until Babar Azam broke his successful streak on 1st April 2021.
The batting maestro and run-machine king Kohli has played 284 ODIs scoring 13239 runs at an average of 57.56 together with an impressive 93.62 strike rate. He has smashed 47 ODI tons just 2 less than the great Tendulkar. 35-year old right-hand batter is the fifth highest ODI run-getter and 2nd highest ODI century scorer. His highest career best ODI rating is 911 which is also the 6th highest all-time batsman ranking.
- Dean Jones: Innovator & Fearless
Another Australian batter Dean Jones debuted for AUS in 1984 and laid a solid foundation for the years to come with his aggressive and innovative batting style. In his 8 years of cricketing career, he remained No.1 ODI batsman for almost 1146 days. He became the No. 1 ODI batter on 4th Jan 1990 and remained there until 22nd February 1993.
The right-hand batter had played 164 ODIs in his short cricketing span making 6068 runs with an average of 44.62 with a healthy strike rate of 72.57. Dean Jones has the best 911 career best ODI ranking which is also the 5th highest all time ODI Batsman Ranking.
- Brian Lara: The Successor of Table Topper
Lara the left-hand stylish batter and 2nd West Indian to hold the record of most Consecutive days as the No. 1 ODI batsman. Brian Lara has played among other cricket greats such as Ponting, Sachin, Yousaf, Chanderpaul, and more. He held the record for 1049 consecutive days from 9th March 19996 to 21st March 1999.
The 13th highest ODI run-scorer, Lara has played 299 matches scoring 10405 runs with an average of 40.48 and strike rate of just under 80. The flaring Lara has the ODI career best 908 rating which is the 8th highest all time batting rating of all-time.
- Babar Azam: Pakistan’s Iconic Batter of All Format
Babar Azam, the current Skipper of Pakistan Cricket team of all three formats has been the 6th longest batter to hold the record for most consecutive days as the No. 1 ODI batter. He took away this record from India Goat Virat Kohli on 7th April 2021 and still possesses it after passing of 924 days.
He has played 111 ODIs while grabbing many records in this format. He has scored 5474 averaging above 57 and striking almost 89. Moreover, he’s the 2nd best average in ODIs, fractionally below that of Virat Kohli. Moreover, he’s career best 898 all-time batting ratings which is the 13th highest of all-time. Indeed, he is the current No. 1 ODI batter with 836 ratings.
- Hashim Amla: The Pure Classic Cricketer
One of the very fine South African opener Hashim Amla comes next in the list of the most days as the No. 1 ODI batter. He has been phenomenal and the fastest to 7000 ODI runs. He remained on the top of the table of ODI batters Ranking from 2nd November 2010 to 23rd March 2013.
This right-handed African Great has played 181 ODIs for SA and scored 8113 runs averaging 49.46 and strike rate of 88.39. Amla remained the No 1 ODI batter for 872 days. His career best ODI rating is 901 which is the 10th highest all-time batting rankings.
- AB de Villiers: MR 360
The 8th in the list is another African batter with the fastest ODI hundred to his name: AB de Villiers. He remained on top in the list of No. 1 ODI batter for 871 days, just one less than his other fellow, Hashim Amla. AB de Villiers became the No. 1 ODI batter from 27th August 2014 to 14th January 2017.
He is known for his innovative stroke play and aggressive batting style. de Villiers has played 288 ODI matches scoring 9577 runs at an average of 53.50 and striking above101. He achieved 902 career best players ranking which is the 9th highest all-time batsman ranking. Interestingly, he has the 3rd highest strike rate in ODIs for at least 5000 runs. Further, Mr 360 has the 3rd highest strike rate in ODIs.
