Top 5 batsmen with most runs in a calendar year

3. Ricky Ponting – 2657 runs (2003)

2003 was the year Ricky Ponting won his first World Cup as captain. One thing notable about Ricky Ponting’s reign as captain was, he always lead from the front. He showed the way for the Australian team with the bat so that, others like Gilchrist, Hayden could follow him. He may have reaped the benefits of having an all-star team that included the likes of Warne, McGrath, Lee but he surely stood for them when it mattered. In the 2003 World Cup Final, Ponting carted the Indian bowlers to the streets and scoring a massive ton. The century dented the hopes of an Indian win. It was in the same year (2003) , that he scored 2657 runs from 45 matches at a mammoth average of 66.42. Ponting won many laurels in the year including ICC Test Player of the Year in 2003.