Most ODI runs from age 35: Who are the top-5 batters? How many has Virat Kohli scored?
Virat Kohli is having a nightmarish tour of Australia. There was immense hype around him and Rohit Sharma heading into the three-match ODI series against the world champions. However, Kohli registered a duck in the opening ODI in Perth and has followed it up with another duck in Adelaide on Thursday (October 23).
With the 36-year-old only playing the ODI format, he realistically only has one more international game in Australia. Unless another ODI series is scheduled in the country before the 2027 World Cup. Despite the two successive ducks, Kohli's recent form isn't bad. Since turning 35, Kohli 656 runs from 16 innings at an average of 46.85 and strike rate of 86.31 with three centuries and four fifties.
A major chunk of those, however, came during the 2023 ODI World Cup where Kohli plundered runs at will. Being on the wrong side of 30s means that the reflexes will inevitably slow down, no matter how fit and agile he is. In this listicle, we look at the highest run scorers in ODI cricket since the age of 35.
#5 - Gordon Greenidge (WI)
The West Indian batting legend used to hold most of the major ODI records at one point of time. He also aged gracefully with 2146 runs from his last 56 innings at an average of 42.92 and strike-rate of 67.82 with five hundreds and 12 fifties.
#4 - Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
Very few batters have had the kind of late prime that Sangakkara had in his career. The Sri Lankan ace peeled off 3397 runs from the age of 35 at a stunning average of 57.49 and strike rate of 91.13 with 11 centuries and 20 fifties. Did he retire too early?
#3 - Misbah-ul-Haq (PAK)
It is not surprising to see Misbah in this list, given that he debuted very late and played till his late 40s. The former Pakistan captain scored 3737 runs from 104 innings at an average of 45.02 and strike rate of 71.04 with 34 half-centuries.
#2 - Sanath Jayasuriya (SL)
The powerhouse southpaw had an amazing record at the fag end of his career which is surprising as hand-eye coordination and reflexes generally slown down with age. Despite that, Jayasuriya hammered 4142 runs in his last 126 innings at an average of 34.23 and strike rate of 96.75 with 12 centuries and 13 fifties.
#1 - Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL)
Another Sri Lankan late-bloomer is at the top of this list. Dilshan's resurgence started since he was promoted to opening the batting and he never looked back. He belted 4674 runs from his last 113 innings at an average of 45.82 and strike rate of 84.81 with 12 centuries and 24 fifties.
Sports