Who is the Most Dangerous Batsman in the World 2024?

Chris Gayle is often called the most dangerous batsman in the world. Known as the “Universe Boss,” this left-handed opener has an incredible ability to hit sixes with ease. In T20 leagues worldwide, Gayle has set the record for the most sixes, proving why he is such a feared batter.

Virender Sehwag is another name that stands out as a dangerous batsman. The Indian opener loved hitting sixes and always played aggressive cricket. While some criticized his batting style, his big shots made him one of the best openers India has ever seen.

AB de Villiers, Gayle’s former teammate at Royal Challengers Bangalore, is a middle-order batsman known for his unique shots. Nicknamed “Mr. 360 Degrees,” de Villiers can hit sixes all over the field. His creativity and skill have made him one of the best batsmen in the world.

Top 10 Most Dangerous Batsman in the World

SN	Player	Country	International Runs	50s/100s
1	Chris Gayle	West Indies	19,593	105/42
2	Virender Sehwag	India	17,253	72/38
3	AB de Villiers	South Africa	20,014	109/47
4	Sanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka	21,032	103/42
5	Adam Gilchrist	Australia	15,461	81/33
6	Brendon McCullum	New Zealand	14,676	79/19
7	Kieron Pollard	West Indies	4,275	19/3
8	MS Dhoni	India	17,266	108/16
9	David Warner	Australia	18,995	98/49
10	Shahid Afridi	Pakistan	11,196	51/11

1. Chris Gayle

Formats	Mts	Runs	HS	SR	Avg.	50s/100s	4s/6s
Tests	103	7,214	333	60.26	42.18	37/15	1046/98
ODIs	301	10,480	215	87.19	37.83	54/25	1128/331
T20Is	79	1,899	117	137.50	27.92	14/2	158/124
IPL	142	4,965	175*	148.96	39.72	31/6	404/357

Chris Gayle is the most dangerous batsman in the world. The left-handed opener is the most feared batters by bowlers. The Universe Boss scored 19,593 runs in international cricket. Gayle is often looked at as a white-ball opener, however, contrary to popular belief he was a great batter in tests as well. He is one of the only four people to have scored two triple-centuries. In ODIs and T20Is was at his destructive best and holds the record for scoring the first century in T20I cricket. While he was already one of the greats of international cricket, Gayle in IPL is one of the best opening batters of all time. Playing for RCB, The Universe Boss once played an unbeaten knock of 175 runs against the Pune Warriors India. In that innings, Gayle smashed 17 sixes which was a record at the time for most sixes in a T20 innings.

2. Virender Sehwag

Formats	Mts	Runs	HS	SR	Avg	50s/100s	4s/6s
Tests	104	8,586	319	82.23	49.34	32/23	1233/91
ODIs	251	8,273	219	104.33	35.05	38/15	1132/136
T20Is	19	394	68	145.38	21.88	2/0	43/16
IPL	104	2,728	122	155.44	27.55	16/2	334/106

Started his career as a batter in the middle-order batter, Virender Sehwag retired as one of the finest openers from India. Sehwag was an aggressive opener and along with Sachin Tendulkar built one of the best opening pairs in ODIs. The right-handed opener was responsible for providing powerful starts to the innings. He was only the second player to score a double-century in ODIs and the first to do so as a skipper. In his limited T20I career, Sehwag was part of India’s title-winning team in the 2007 World Cup. He replicated his international form in the IPL as well where in spite of having only played 104 matches, Sehwag scored more than 2,700 runs at a strike rate of 155.44.

3. AB de Villiers

Formats	Mts	Runs	HS	SR	Avg.	50s/100s	4s/6s
Tests	114	8,765	278*	54.51	50.66	46/22	1024/64
ODIs	228	9,577	176	101.09	53.50	53/25	840/204
T20Is	78	1,672	79*	135.16	26.12	10/0	140/60
IPL	184	5,162	133*	151.68	39.70	40/3	251/118

Mr. 360 Degrees, AB de Villiers, is an inventor of multiple shots played behind the keeper. The middle-order batter is the most dangerous batsman in the world from South Africa. De Villiers had the ability to score at a quick rate and it was witnessed by the bowlers from West Indies when he scored the fastest century in ODIs in only 31 balls. However, the South African batter was not only aggressive but could also play knocks to save tests. Once against India, de Villiers played 297 balls to score 43 runs in an attempt to draw a test. In IPL, he was better than almost any middle-order batter and could change the course of matches in the death overs on his own. Mr. 360 Degrees could score sixes against the best bowlers in the IPL in death overs.

4. Sanath Jayasuriya

Formats	Mts	Runs	HS	SR	Avg.	50s/100s	4s/6s
Tests	110	6,973	340	65.18	40.07	31/14	59/910
ODIs	445	13,430	189	91.20	32.36	68/28	1500/270
T20Is	31	629	88	129.15	23.29	4/0	23/76
IPL	30	768	114*	144.36	27.42	4/1	84/39

If not for the early part of his career, Sanath Jayasuriya could have ended up even further up the run-scoring charts. The Sri Lanka head coach in his playing days was the most explosive opening batter. Jayasuriya often decimated bowling attacks in the first few overs. During the first few years of his career, Jayasuriya played as a bowler who could bat a bit. However, once he started to open the innings for Sri Lanka there was no looking further at other options. While he failed in the knockouts of the 1996 ODI World Cup, Jayasuriya was the player of the tournament as Sri Lanka won their only ODI World Cup. Even in the twilight stage of his career, Jayasuriya had an incredible IPL campaign in 2008. During the inaugural season, the opening batter scored 514 runs at a strike rate of 166.34 showing glimpses of what he could have achieved if he had started playing a few years later.

5. Adam Gilchrist 

Formats	Mts	Runs	HS	SR	Avg.	50s/100s	4s/6s
Tests	96	5,570	204*	81.95	47.60	26/17	677/100
ODIs	287	9,619	172	96.94	35.89	55/16	1162/149
T20Is	13	272	48	141.66	22.66	0/0	27/13
IPL	80	2,069	109*	138.39	27.22	11/2	239/92

It often did not matter to Adam Gilchrist if he was opening in ODIs or batting in the lower-middle-order in tests. The playing style of ‘see the ball hit the ball’ remained the same in spite of the change in formats. The wicketkeeper-batter was one of the mainstays of the dominating Australian side of the 2000s. While he was not the sharpest behind the stumps there were very few who could do what he did in front of the stumps. Batting at number 7 in test cricket, no one scored more runs than Gilchrist. He would often deflate the bowling attacks who had toiled hard enough to take five wickets to see him walking at number 7. Gilchrist scored at a quick rate and in spite of batting in the lower order for most of his career, he managed to score 17 tons. In the IPL, Gilchrist captained Deccan Chargers to the title in 2009. In 80 matches in the IPL, he scored more than 2,000 runs at a strike rate of almost 140.

6. Brendon McCullum

Format	Mts	Runs	HS	SR	Avg.	50s/100s	4s/6s
Tests	101	6,453	302	64.60	38.64	31/12	776/107
ODIs	260	6,083	166	96.37	30.41	32/5	577/200
T20Is	71	2,140	123	136.21	35.66	13/2	199/91
IPL	109	2,880	158*	131.74	27.69	13/2	293/130

Brendon McCullum played in a manner that he has replicated with the England test team in present times. The Kiwi opener was New Zealand’s most dangerous batsman. McCullum is often remembered for his aggressive heroics from the 2015 ODI World Cup. It was the first time when New Zealand had reached a World Cup final. During the World Cup, McCullum smashed the third most sixes and played at a strike rate of 188. However, the wicketkeeper batter was a great batter against the red ball as well. He is the only player from New Zealand to score a triple-century. He achieved the feat while playing for almost 13 hours against India. In IPL, McCullum was one of the torch-bearers of the tournament’s success. He started the IPL in the best way possible by scoring 158 runs in the very first match of the league. In spite of retiring from international cricket in 2016, McCullum’s school of batting remains intact thanks to ‘Bazball’, a technique he employed as the head coach of the England test team.

7. Kieron Pollard

Formats	Mts	Runs	HS	SR	Avg.	50s/100s	4s/6s
ODIs	123	2,706	119	94.41	26.01	13/3	171/135
T20Is	101	1,569	75*	135.14	25.30	6/0	94/99
IPL	189	3,412	87*	147.32	28.67	16/0	218/223

Even though Kieron Pollard does not have the number of runs in international that other players have scored on this he is still one of the most dangerous batsmen in the world. Pollard was the joint-most expensive buy in IPL 2010. In spite of having only 25 international games where he averaged below 20, Mumbai Indians bought Pollard for the huge sum of ₹4.8 crores. He had already shown promise playing in T20 leagues. The huge West Indian all-rounder repaid the faith shown in him by MI by often winning them matches single-handedly. Only de Villiers, Gayle, and Jos Buttler have scored more runs in IPL at a better strike rate than Pollard. In the IPL, Pollard has scored 3,412 runs while batting mostly in the lower order. His strike rate of 147.32 has been one of the biggest reasons behind his utility in the league. He is one of the very few players who have hit more sixes than fours in the league. 

8. MS Dhoni

Formats	Mts.	Runs	HS	SR	Avg.	50s/100s	4s/6s
Tests	90	4,876	224	59.11	38.09	33/6	544/78
ODIs	350	10,773	183*	87.56	50.57	73/10	826/229
T20Is	98	1,617	56	126.13	37.60	2/0	116/52
IPL	264	5,243	84*	137.53	39.12	24/0	363/252

MS Dhoni’s name in cricket remains synonymous with high striking abilities. The Indian wicketkeeper batter is one of the best finishers in international cricket. His ability to finish matches can be perfectly captured by Ian Bishop’s quote on him. Bishop said, “If 15 runs are needed in the final over then the pressure is on the bowler not on MS Dhoni.” Dhoni often remained calm in high-stakes situations even when India was chasing a mammoth total of 275 in the World Cup final. With only four runs needed to win the tournament, Dhoni calmly deposited the ball over the long-on boundary for a six. He would go on to finish multiple matches with a six in his career after the 2011 World Cup. In the IPL, he is the best captain in the history of the tournament having played 10 finals as a captain and winning five of them. However, there are not many players who are better than him when it comes to winning matches with bat in hand. Dhoni has scored over 5,200 runs in the IPL at a healthy strike rate of 137.53. In spite of his age, the 43-year-old Dhoni had a great season in IPL 2024 and looks in all likelihood to play yet another season in IPL 2025.

9. David Warner

Formats	Mts.	Runs	HS	SR	Avg.	50s/100s	4s/6s
Tests	112	8,786	335*	70.19	44.59	37/26	1036/69
ODIs	161	6,932	179	97.26	45.30	33/22	733/130
T20Is	110	3,277	100*	142.47	33.43	28/1	337/122
IPL	184	6,565	126	139.77	40.52	62/4	663/236

David Warner retired as the most dangerous batsman in the world opening the batting in all three formats. The Australian opening batter is one of the most prolific run scorers in international cricket. He has won the ODI World Cup in 2015 and 2023. In both editions, Warner scored at a strike rate of more than 100 and was also the highest run scorer for Australia in the 2023 edition. He was also Australia’s top run-getter in the 2021 T20 World Cup where he scored almost 300 runs at a strike rate of 146. Among his World Cup heroics, Warner is also infamously known for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal of 2018. Making a comeback after serving a one-year ban, Warner returned with great form scoring 647 runs in the 2019 World Cup. In the IPL, he has been arguably the most consistent overseas batter.  He is one of the two players along with Virat Kohli to score 500 runs seven times in an IPL season. Warner scored more than 500 runs for six seasons in a row from 2014 to 2020. While he has retired from international cricket, Warner is still expected to play in the IPL.

10. Shahid Afridi

Formats	Mts.	Runs	HS	SR	Avg.	50s/100s	4s/6s
Tests	27	1,716	156	86.97	36.51	8/5	220/52
ODIs	398	8,064	124	117.00	23.57	39/6	730/351
T20Is	99	1,416	54*	150.00	17.92	4/0	103/73
IPL	10	81	33	176.08	10.12	0/0	7/6

Calling Shahid Afridi a dangerous batsman would be an understatement. For 18 years, Afridi held the record for scoring the fastest century in ODIs. The century came against Sri Lanka in 37 balls at the age of 16 in his very first series. The spin-bowling all-rounder was one of the best players in white-ball cricket. He was named the Player of the Tournament in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 while ending up on the losing side in the finals against India. However, two years later, Afridi with his all-round performances in the semi-finals and finals won Pakistan their only T20 World Cup title. While he is mostly remembered for his multiple retirement reversals, Afridi bid goodbye to international cricket as one of the most fearsome batters with a strike rate that might never be overtaken.

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