Ever since its inception a good four decades ago, ODI cricket too has held many coveted milestones on offer for the cricketers to surpass. One such feat that is considered to stand as the testimony of a batsman’s class in the format is the 10,000 run mark. Over the years, of all the innumerable cricketers to have played ODI cricket, a mere 12 gentlemen have been able to go past this rare milestone. The majority of these players, as expected, also hold the merit of scoring plenty of centuries in their careers. However, there exist a few batsmen thus far who have managed to achieve the feat with less than 20 centuries to their names. Be it due to the lack of sufficient opportunities to score big runs or comparatively poorer conversion rates from the fifties to hundreds, these batsmen couldn’t rake up quite the number of hundreds as one would expect from the players of their calibre.
Here, we take a look at 5 such batsmen who have managed to go past the 10,000 run-mark in the ODIs with less than 20 hundreds under their belt.
#5 MS Dhoni
The latest entrant into the 10,000 runs club, India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni has emerged as one of the greatest players in the ODI format. The Jharkhand dynamite, as he’s popularly known, debuted for India in 2004 and in the last 14 years, has forged an illustrious career. In 273 innings, Dhoni has amassed as many as 10,004 runs at a stunning average of 51.30 runs per match.
However, the former Indian captain has batted down the order for the better part of his career and hasn’t quite had as many opportunities to keep his centuries tab ticking. With 10 centuries thus far, Dhoni still continues to shoulder the responsibility of being the team’s finisher.
#4 Brian Lara
Arguably, the greatest left-handed batsman to have played the game, Brian Lara stood as the cornerstone West Indies batting line-up for about 15 years. Irrespective of the format, the man from Trinidad and Tobago had dominated the oppositions’ bowling attacks and played a key role in the Windies squad from 1990 to 2007. Lara batted at no. 3 and 4 for the most of his ODI career and succeeded in achieving some tremendous feats on course.
In 289 innings, the southpaw scored 10,405 runs at an average of 40.48 runs per match. However, contrary to his staggering amount of centuries in the Tests, the former West Indies captain managed to score only 19 centuries in the 50-over format.
#3 Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid, on several fronts, continues to remain as one the greatest Indian batsmen ever produced. From being the crisis man to being the aggressor when the situation demanded, the man from Karnataka was the perfect team player one could ask for. Possessing a sound technique, which equipped him to play in different conditions, Dravid is one of the four Indians to have scored more than 10,000 runs in ODIs.
In 318 innings, the right-handed batsman scored 10889 runs at an average of 39.16 runs per match and 12 centuries to his credit. While some argue that a slow pace of scoring runs proved to be a deterrent, others feel that it was his selfless attitude for the team that might have cost him a few hundreds here and there.
#2 Inzamam-ul-Haq
Tall, strong, and intimidating, Inzamam-ul-Haq stood strong as Pakistan’s batting mainstay for numerous years. Known for his calm and composed style of batting, Inzy, as he’s fondly called, decimated many bowling attacks across the world and emerged as one of the greatest ODI batsmen.
With 11739 runs in 350 runs, the man from Multan stands as the sixth highest run-getter in the 50-over format and continues to inspire the younger crop of aspiring cricketers. Much similar to the batsmen on this list, the former Pakistan skipper ended up with less than 20 ODI centuries and had to contain with only 10 hundreds to his credit.
#1 Mahela Jayawardene
Be it the majestic cover drives, the kingly straight drives or even the uberly stylish flick shots, Mahela Jayawardene possessed a wide range of cricketing shots in his arsenal. Arguably the greatest right-handed batsman coming from the island nation, Jayawardene holds the distinction of being the first Sri Lankan to score 10,000 ODI runs.
Hailed for his chanceless style of play, the man from Colombo has amassed as many as 12,650 runs in his ODI career and stands as the fifth highest run-getter in the format, as of now. However, the former Sri Lankan skipper couldn’t convert many of his half-centuries into hundreds and ended up 19 centuries in 418 games.
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