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Top 5 expected highest run getters for ODI World Cup 2023
Former players and experts have already started predicting the highest run scorers for the ODI World Cup 2023. In the 2019 World Cup, Indian opener Rohit Sharma was the leading run-scorer, he scored a remarkable 648 runs in nine matches with an average of 81, which included five centuries.
Cricket fans worldwide are eagerly preparing for the mega event and want their favourite players to shine in the World Cup. The tournament starts on October 5 and the craze is building up. Before the World Cup, the batters are gearing up for the best battles in the World Cup. The tournament has always been a fascinating tournament with plenty of intense games.
Here are the 5 batters who can be the highest run scorer in World Cup
5. Babar Azam
Babar Azam (Source- Twitter)
The Pakistan skipper has been in red-hot form in the ongoing Asia Cup. He has already scored 151 runs against Nepal and is one of the most consistent batters in world cricket right now. The 28-year-old has an average of almost 49 in ODIs in 2023. Babar Azam can surely lead the batting charts in this World Cup. He has scored 6 fifties in 11 innings in 2023 and he would be itching to get a big one in this Asia Cup.
He now has the highest ODI average in the world at 59.5. His consistency in scoring runs, along with his hunger to score big, makes him a dependable player in Pakistan’s batting line-up. The Pakistan fans will be hopeful that he scores some runs in the World Cup. He has established himself as one of the best batters in international cricket.
4. Jonny Bairstow
Jonny Bairstow (Source- Twitter)
The keeper-batter has been one of the finest players going in the world cricket and ever since he returned from injury, he has been in red-hot form. In the 2019 World Cup, Jonny Bairstow smashed a blistering total of 532 runs from as many as 11 games at an impressive average of over 48.
The right-hander also scored a couple of hundreds and as many half-centuries in the 50-overs mega event. Bairstow has scored 3634 runs from 95 ODIs so far at an average of 46.59 including 15 fifties and 11 centuries.
3. Kane Williamson
Kane Williamson (Source- Twitter)
The New Zealand skipper was adjudged the Player of the tournament for scoring 578 runs and his outstanding leadership that led the Kiwis to their 2nd successive World Cup final in 2019. He is one of the best players in the world and after leading his side into the World Cup final in 2019. In that event, the 32-year-old skipper had broken the record of former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene who got 548 runs in the 2007 edition of the event.
He will be returning from an injury that he took during the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has a lot of experience playing in India. Williamson has scored 984 runs in his batting against India, with an average batting rate of 39.36 and a strike rate of 73.93. He has scored 2213 runs which include three centuries in India.
2. Steve Smith
Steve Smith (Source- Twitter)
Smith loves batting in India. He has scored 4,939 runs in 104 innings at an average of 44.49 and strike rate of 86.31, including 12 hundreds and 29 fifties. He had scored just 294 runs in 9 innings in the group stages of the 2019 World Cup at an average of 32.67.
Smith has a great record in knockout matches in matches that define winning or losing a tournament. In 4 such matches, he has scored 311 runs at an average of 103.66 and strike rate of 88.35, including one hundred and three fifties.
1. Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli (Source- Twitter)
Kohli has been the backbone of India’s batting line-up for over a decade, with 12898 runs in 275 matches at an average of 57.32 and a strike rate of 93.62. He has scored 46 ODI centuries and is possibly the greatest ODI batter of this generation. In World Cup he played in a total of 9 matches, accumulating a total of 442 runs throughout the tournament.
He is the second-highest run scorer for India in World Cup with 1030 runs. He has been in sensational form in the 9 ODI innings in 2023, Kohli has scored 427 runs with an average of 53.37 with a brilliant strike rate of 116.03. The Men in Blue would want him to continue his form become the highest run scorer for India and bring back the trophy home.