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Shikhar Dhawan is the 10th fastest to 5000 runs in ODI cricket. Dhawan reached the milestone in 118 innings matching Brian Lara. The left-handed Indian opening batter was confident while he was on the crease. The Delhi-born batter was at his best during ICC tournaments in pressure situations. More often than not, Dhawan was the leading run-scorer for India during the tournaments. He played useful knocks from his very first tournament in 2013, he scored the most runs in the tournament and was named the player of the series as India won the tournament.
Since then Dhawan formed one of the best top orders in the history of the sport with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. In the years of ODI tournaments, Dhawan would have his best performances. In 2015, the left-handed opening batter scored 745 runs. In 2017, as India reached the final of the Champions Trophy, the 39-year-old scored 960 runs at an average of 48. His performances bettered in the following year as the Indian batter scored 897 runs averaging close to 50. Shikhar reached the historic landmark in 2019 with an unbeaten knock of 75 runs as India defeated New Zealand by eight wickets at Napier.
Brian Lara is the 9th fastest to 5000 runs in ODI cricket. The Prince as he was fondly called reached the milestone in 118 innings. Lara retired as one of the finest ODI batters, however, the batter from Trinidad did not have a great start to his career. Lara scored only 84 runs in his first five innings. He did not score a century for more than two years after making his debut in the format. The left-handed batter’s first century came in a tri-series against Pakistan in Durban. Lara did not let his new-found form go to waste and scored another century in the following game this time against South Africa in Bloemfontein.
Once Lara was able to score his first ODI century there was almost nothing that could stop the West Indies’ batter. In 1993, Lara made four centuries and ended the year with 1,349 runs in 30 matches at an average of close to 50. From 1995 to 1997, Lara had a great purple patch. In three years, the left-handed batter made 2,253 runs at an average of more than 57. During this period, Lara made seven centuries. He reached 5000 runs in ODIs with a knock of 68 runs in 70 balls against South Africa in a losing cause.
Quinton de Kock is the 8th fastest to 5000 runs in ODI cricket. The South African wicketkeeper batter reached the landmark in 116 innings. Early in his career de Kock was compared to some of the greats of the game like Mark Boucher and Adam Gilchrist. The pressure of being compared to players of such stature can make life difficult for anyone. But de Kock was hardly bothered. In his first year of playing ODIs, the left-handed batter shared jointly the record for scoring most consecutive tons in the format. It was bettered by Kumar Sangakkara in the 2015 ODI World Cup.
De Kock enjoyed a great deal of success in ODIs which had quickly become his strongest format. In 2016, he made 178 runs against Australia which is the third-highest individual score for the Proteas in ODIs. In 2019, before the ODI World Cup the wicketkeeper batter was in incredible form and registered scores of 83, 81, 94, 121, and 51 in five consecutive matches. Unfortunately for him and South Africa, de Kock could not replicate the same level of success in the tournament and made only two fifty plus scores. He reached the milestone in 2020 with a century against England.
Joe Root is the 7th fastest to 5000 runs in ODI cricket. The English batter reached the milestone in 116 innings. Root is unarguably the most successful batter for the 2019 World Cup champions. With more than 20,000 runs in international cricket, he has scored the most runs for England across formats. After a horrendous performance in the 2015 World Cup, the English batting lineup was revamped. Batters who could bat at high strike rates were given the preference. Among them was Root, who did not have the same range of range of powerful his teammates had. However, he matched their strike rate with his classical shots and unorthodox laps over the slip cordon.
From 2017 to 2019, Root made 900 plus runs in a year thrice. As England was preparing for the home world cup in 2019, the English number three played a pivotal role. In 2018, Root made three hundreds. Against India in a three-match series, after losing the first match, Root made two back-to-back centuries to win the series for his side. In his very first ODI in 2019, the right-handed batter made a match-winning ton against the West Indies to reach 5000 runs in the format.
David Warner is the 6th fastest to 5000 runs in ODI cricket. The Australian opening batter reached the landmark in 115 innings. Warner has been one of the most important players for Australia in the white-ball setup. The left-handed batter retired after becoming the best opening batter to play all three formats of cricket. He was an aggressive batter on the field and would often get into a word or two with the opposition players. However, his involvement in the sandpaper saga maligned his reputation to a great extent. The batter was banned for a year for his involvement in the controversy. However, Warner bounced back in a manner that could only be written in movie scripts.
Warner made 647 runs in 10 matches in the World Cup after serving his one-year ban. He ended up as the second highest run scorer in the tournament behind Rohit Sharma. The left-handed batter reached the milestone of 5000 runs in 2020 in his first ODI of the year. He scored a match-winning unbeaten century against India to successfully chase down the target of 256 runs.
Shai Hope is the 5th fastest to 5000 runs in ODI cricket. Hope reached the milestone in 114 innings. The 31-year-old like his name gave a hope to the fans of West Indies cricket. Among the millionaires from T20 leagues who had the ability go wham-bam from ball one, Shai looked like a player from the past generation of classical batters. It was no surprise then that he was handed a debut in tests and ODI in his early 20s. Hope scored 1,345 runs in 2019. However, the Covid 19 pandemic came at a time when the batter from Barbados looked in the best form of his life.
After losing on two years, Hope was back to his best in 2022. He scored 709 runs in 21 matches in the year with three centuries to his name. In 2023, the West Indies for the first time failed to qualify for the ODI World Cup. The right-handed batter scored 824 runs at an average of 68.66. Hope was earlier criticised for his strike rate but the batter improved his rate to slightly better than run a ball.
Virat Kohli is the 4th fastest to 5000 runs in ODI cricket reaching in 114 innings. The Indian batter has already broken multiple records in the format. Once Kohli retires there might be no argument of him being the greatest ever to play the format. The Indian number three has the most centuries in ODIs and he overtook his idol, Sachin Tendulkar’s record during the 2023 ODI World Cup. The Delhi-born batter batter in 2013 reached 4000 runs in ODIs in January and it took him only 10 more month reach 5000 runs in the same year.
Kohli scored 1,268 runs in 2013 at an average of more than 52. It was the third time that the Indian batter had scored more than 1000 runs in a year. Kohli started the year on a slow note with a couple of single-digit scores against Pakistan. He made a half-century in the Champions Trophy as India won the title. Meanwhile he made up for his slow start in the upcoming series. In a tri-series, Kohli scored a ton against the West Indies in only his second match as the stand-in captain. A tour to Zimbabwe followed for Kohli as the leader. He once again made sure that the extra responsibility did not bother him and made another ton. Kohli reached the landmark against the West Indies in a home series with a knock of 86 runs.
Viv Richards is the 3rd fastest to 5000 runs in ODI cricket. The former West Indies’ batter reached the landmark in 114 innings. He retired with one of the best records for a batter in ODIs. The right-handed batter held the record for being the fastest to score 5000 runs in the format before it was broken by Hashim Amla 28 years later. The former right-handed batter played during a time when scoring run-rate could go down as much as three runs per over. India famously defended a total of 183 in the final of 1983 World Cup. Richards on the other hand played in a fashion that would put some of the batter of modern times to shame.
The West Indies’ batter retired with more than 6000 runs in the format which was the record at that time. He made these many runs while batting at a strike rate of more than 90. Even today, only 12 batters have managed to score more runs than Richards at a better strike rate in the format. Such was his style of batting that he would take the game away from the grasp of the opposition team single handedly. Richards scored his 5000th run in ODI in a match-winning knock of 58 runs off 84 balls.
Hashim Amla is the 2nd fastest to 5000 runs in ODI cricket reaching in only 101 innings. The former South African batter had a near to perfect batting technique. Amla in spite of growing up on the bouncy tracks of Durban could play as naturally on the sub-continent pitches. His ability to modify his game according to the needs of the conditions made the right-handed batter such a great asset. Along with Amla, South Africa had produced one of the best teams of the time. During 2012 for a while the Proteas was ranked number 1 in all three formats. The right-handed batter played a huge role in achieving the feat.
The South African batter was highly successful in 2013 and 2014 as he made more than 800 runs in both years averaging close to 44. During the two-year period, Amla made seven centuries in 31 matches. However, his best year in ODIs came in 2015. The South African batter made 1,062 runs in 23 matches at an average of more than 50. Playing against the West Indies, Amla made run-a-ball 66 runs to reach the landmark of 5000 runs in the format.
Babar Azam is the fastest to 5000 runs in ODI cricket. The Pakistani batter reached the milestone in 97 innings. Babar is the only batter to do so in under 100 innings. When Amla broke the record jointly held by Kohli and Richards no had expected it to be broken. But such is the the stature of the right-handed batter that he did it with a gap of four innings. His strike rate in T20Is and consistency in test cricket have been questioned in recent years but Babar in ODIs has been a force to be reckoned with. The Lahore-born batter had a tough ask to replace the likes of Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq and he did it with near-perfection.
The recent dip in form has raised a few doubts in the minds of many fans. In 2023, the Pakistani batter had one of his best years. He started the year strongly with two half-centuries against New Zealand in a three-match ODI series. The ODI series was followed by a five-match ODI series against the same opponent a few months later. Babar started the second series with scores of 49, 65, and 54. In the fourth match, the Pakistani batter finally converted his starts into a triple-digit score. He reached 5000 runs with the same century.
Virat Kohli is the fastest Indian to score 5000 runs in ODI cricket. The chase master reached the milestone in 114 innings. Kohli is followed on the list by his state teammate, Shikhar Dhawan. The left-handed opening batter reached the landmark in 118 innings. Sourav Ganguly, who reached 5000 runs in 126 innings is ranked third on the list. The list also features former batting legends like MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid, and Yuvraj Singh.
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