12 Top Order Batsmen In ODI Cricket

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Who do you think are the top-order batters in ODI cricket?

ODI, or in full One Day International, is a form of limited-overs cricket. Also known as Limited Overs Internationals, it is one of the highest standards of List A, limited-overs competition.

ODI match between Australia and India, 2004
ODI match between Australia and India, 2004 (Source: Wikimedia.org)

The game format was developed in the late 20th century and is now one of the popular formats of cricket. So, today we are looking at the batters who currently have the best rankings in the ODI cricket.

We have players from various countries making on our list. We are looking at the top twelve individuals with the highest batting rate.

So, let us get straight into our list without any more delay.

12 Top Order Batsmen In ODI Cricket 

We have prepared the list with primary references from ICCcricket.com. However, before diving into the players’ details, let us first look at the overall rakings on the table below.

Player’s Name Rating
12. Fakhar Zaman 730
11. Joe Root 740
10. Aaron Finch 745
9. David Warner 750
8. Rassie van der Dussen 769
7. Ross Taylor 775
6. Jonny Bairstow 775
5. Quinton de Kock 789
4. Rohit Sharma 791
3. Imam-ul-Haq 795
2. Virat Kholi 811
1. Babar Azam 891

12. Fakhar Zaman

The first batsman on our list is 34 year-old Pakistani cricketer Fakhar Zaman. Currently, he plays for the Pakistan national cricket team and Pakistan Super League franchise team Lahore Qalandars.

Before beginning his cricket career, Zaman had joined Pakistan Navy as a sailor. However, cricket was his childhood addiction, and in 2012, he represented the navy in the International Defence Cricket Challenge in Australia.

Zaman was named the best player at the tournament and thus, began his cricket career. The following year, he left the navy to pursue a career in cricket. During the 2016 Pakistan Cup, Zaman was the second-highest run-scorer.

Fakhar Zaman
Fakhar Zaman (Source: Instagram)

He made his ODI debut in 2017 against South Africa. Moreover, in the final against India, he became the first batsman from Pakistan to score a century in an ICC event final.

In 2021, Zaman scored 193 while chasing against South Africa in the second ODI. With this, he became the highest individual score while chasing in ODI, surpassing Shane Watson’s record of 185.

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11. Joe Root

On number 11 of top-order cricket batsman in ODI, we have Joe Root. He is a 33 year-old English cricketer and a former captain of the English Test team. He plays for the Yorkshire team in English domestic cricket.

Root made his debut in the domestic cricket in 2007 for the Yorkshire. He made his Test and T20I debut in 2012 and ODI debut in 2013. Similarly, he played his ODI debut match against India.

Joe Root
Joe Root (Source: Instagram)

During the 2019 Cricket World Cup, he was the leading run-scorer at the tournament. Furthermore, in 2021 Root was named the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year and the Wisden Leading Cricketer in The World.

10. Aaron Finch

Aaron Finch is a 37 year-old Australian cricketer and captain in limited-overs cricket for the Australian cricket team. Domestically, he plays for Victoria Surrey and Melbourne Renegades.

He made his T20I debut in 2011 against England and his ODI debut in 2013 against Sri Lanka. Finch made his Test match debut in 2018 against Pakistan. He was the first player to score 150 runs in the T20I innings.

Aaron Finch
Aaron Finch (Source: International Cricket Council)

Currently, this top-order batsman holds the record for the two of the three highest individual scorers in T20I and is the first player to reach 900 rating points in the ICC T20I rankings. 

9. David Warner

Our number 9 spot for the top order cricket batsman in ODI goes to an Australian international cricketer and a former captain of the Australian national team in the limited-overs format, David Warner.

The 37 year-old Warner is a left-handed opening batsman. Warner made his ODI and T20I debut in 2009, while he made his Test debut in 2011. 

David Warner
David Warner (Source: Instagram)

In 2017, he became the first Australian batsman and 8th batsman overall to score a century in his 100th ODI.

Likewise, Warner scored the second-highest individual score by any Australian Test batsman in 2019 with 335 not out against Pakistan.

8. Rassie van der Dussen

Rassie van der Dussen is a 35 year-old cricketer from South Africa. He plays in the South Africa national cricket team and plays for the domestic team, the Highveld Lions cricket team.

Similarly, in 2019, van der Dussen made his ODI debut against Pakistan and Test debut against England. At Cricket South Africa’s annual award ceremony, he was named the International Men’s Newcomer of the Year.

Rassie van der Dussen
Rassie van der Dussen (Source: Instagram)

Van der Dussen has been part of many international franchise teams. He has played in the Global T20 Canada tournament, Pakistan Super League, Caribbean Premier League, and Indian Premier League.

He is the oldest cricketer from South Africa to score his first century in an ODI match in 2021. Likewise, van der Dussen was also named in ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Year for 2021.

7. Ross Taylor

40 year-old Ross Taylor is our seventh top order cricket batsman in ODI. He is a former international cricketer and the former captain of the New Zealand national team.

Taylor made his ODI debut against West Indies and T20I debut in Sri Lanka the same year.

Similarly, the following year, Taylor made his Test debut against South Africa. He has also played for Indian Premier League teams and Caribbean Premier League teams.

Ross Taylor
Ross Taylor (Source: Wikimedia.org)

In 2020, he became the first cricketer to play in 100 matches in all three formats of international cricket. Additionally, the same year, Taylor became the most-capped player in international cricket for New Zealand.

At the end of 2021, he was the leading run-scorer for his country in Test and ODI cricket. Likewise, Taylor also announced his retirement from international cricket the same year.

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6. Jonny Bairstow

Next, we have English cricketer Jonny Bairstow. The 35 year-old cricketer plays internationally for England’s national team in all formats and trained team Yorkshire.

Bairstow is the son of former Yorkshire and England wicket-keeper David Bairstow. Therefore, he was influenced to play cricket and played cricket at an early age.

He was chosen as the inaugural winner of the Young Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year award during his school year. Bairstow made his ODI debut and T20I debut in 2011.

Jonny Bairstow
Jonny Bairstow (Source: Instagram)

Aside from his ODI batting rating of 775, he holds the world record for the highest sixth-wicket stand in Tests with 399.

5. Quinton de Kock

On number 5 of top-order cricket batsman in ODI, we have a South African cricketer and a former captain of the national team, Quinton de Kock. The 31 year-old currently plays for South Africa in limited-overs cricket.

De Kock made his T20I debut in 2012 and ODI debut in 2013, both against New Zealand.

De Kock was the fourth player to score three successive one-day centuries and the second player to score four ODI centuries before age 21.

Quinton de Kock , 2014
Quinton de Kock , 2014 (Source: Wikimedia.org)

In 2017, he became the fastest player to complete 12 ODI hundreds. 

4. Rohit Sharma

With an ODI batting rating of 791, we have Indian international cricketer Rohit Sharma as our number 4 top-order cricket batsman in ODI. The 37 year-old is the current captain of the Indian national team.

Sharma has been widely acknowledged as one of the most outstanding batters in limited-overs cricket. In 2007, he made his ODI debut against Ireland and T20I debut against England.

Similarly, he made his Test debut in 2013 against the West Indies. Currently, Sharma holds the world record for the highest individual score in the ODI match.

Rohit Sharma celebrates after scoring record 264 runs Vs SriLanka
Rohit Sharma celebrates after scoring a record 264 runs Vs. SriLanka

He is the only player who has scored three double-centuries in ODI. After scoring five centuries in the 2019 World Cup, he won the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award.

Sharma is the captain of the Indian Premier League franchise team Mumbai Indians. Under his leadership, the team has won the tournament a record five times.

3. Imam-ul-Haq

On number 3 of top-order cricket batsman in ODI, we have Pakistani international cricketer, Imam-ul-Haq. The 28 year-old player made his ODI debut in 2017 against Sri Lanka.

Imam-ul-Haq became the second Pakistani batsman and thirteenth overall to score a century on debut in his ODI debut match. As a result, he was named man of the game for this feat.

In 2018, he made his Test debut in a match against Ireland. Similarly, In 2018, Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman made the highest opening partnership in ODIs in the fourth ODI against Zimbabwe.

Imam-ul-Haq
JImam-ul-Haq (Source: Instagram)

The following year in 2019, Imam-ul-Haq made his T20I debut against England. He also became the second-fastest batsman to score 1,000 runs in ODIs during the third ODI against South Africa.

In March 2022, Imam-ul-Haq scored his first century in Test cricket and another century in the second innings. He then became the tenth Pakistani player to score a century in both innings of a Test.

2. Virat Kholi

35 year-old Virat Kholi is an Indian international cricketer and former captain of the Indian national cricket team. He is considered one of the best batters of his era and the second top-order cricket batsman in ODI.

Kholi made his ODI debut in 2008 against Sri Lanka. Similarly, he made his T20I debut in 2010 against Zimbabwe and Test debut in 2011 against the West Indies.

In 2013, he was the number one ODI batsman in ICC rankings.

Virat Kholi
Virat Kholi

Likewise, he has been named the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for three consecutive years and has also been awarded the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.

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1. Babar Azam

With the highest ODI batting rating of 891, we have 29 year-old Babar Azam as our top order cricket batsman in ODI. The Pakistani international cricketer is a captain for the team in all formats.

In 2015, he made his ODI debut in a match against Zimbabwe. Similarly, Azam made his T20I debut against England and Test debut against West Indies the following year.

Babar Azam
Babar Azam (Source: Instagram)

In the 2017 third ODI against West Indies, he broke the record for scoring the most runs after the 25 ODI innings. Then he achieved his number one spot in the ODI batters ICC ranking in April 2021.

Conclusion

As one of the highest standards of cricket format, ODI is also one of the most challenging formats for every cricketer. Therefore, these players genuinely deserve a lot of praise and respect.

Other players in the future could outdo the rating. Nevertheless, their rating is truly an impressive feat that deserves the top spot. Thank you for reading the article!

Boby Rai
Boby Raihttps://playersbio.com/

Boby Rai

Boby Rai is a dedicated writer who specializes in capturing the essence of sporting excellence through his unique lens. As the creative mind behind numerous sports-centric projects, he brings a fresh perspective to the world of athletics, blending insightful commentary with captivating narratives.

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