Stats: Most runs in a calendar year in international cricket

If Sri Lanka could ‘Shift+Del’ a year from their international calendar, then 2017 would easily stand out. After faltering to three series whitewash in a year, the Lankans are getting hammered in Virat Kohli’s India. The hosts went back at stumps on 371/4 at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi. Kohli went past 5000 Test runs and broke multiple records en route to his 20th Test ton.

The Indian captain became the 26th batsman in world cricket to score 16000 international runs. He is only the fifth batsman to have achieved this feat. Kohli joins the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag. It took him just 350 innings to achieve the landmark, breaking the previous record of 363 innings held by Hashim Amla.

Kohli makes it count

Kohli has 2681 runs in 2017, his previous best was 2595 last year. The 29-year-old batter is only the second cricketer after Australia’s former skipper Ricky Ponting to notch up 2500-plus runs in a calendar year as the captain of the side. As we take a look at the batsmen with most runs in a calendar year, Ponting emerges at the top with 2833 runs from 46 matches with nine tons and 15 fifties.

Legendary former Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara is next in the table with 2813 runs from 47 matches with a best of 319. New Zealand’s Kane Williamson secures the third place with 2692 runs from 39 matches. He achieved the feat in the year 2015, the very year in which the Blackcaps reached the finals of the 2015 World Cup. Kohli is now at the fourth spot with 2681 runs from 46 matches, and the numbers are likely to go up tomorrow morning in the Indian capital.

Ponting once again features in the list, as he amassed 2657 runs from 45 matches in the year 2003. Former Indian greats Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid finds themselves in the top 10.

Most runs in a calendar year in international cricket

Stats updated till 2nd December 2017