Most runs by a batsman in a calendar year in International cricket
In 1998, Sachin Tendulkar scored 1894 runs in ODIs for India with an average of 65.31 and a strike rate of 102.15. He thus set a new record for most runs in ODIs in a calendar year breaking his own record of 1611 runs from 1996. Twenty years have passed and Sachin’s record in ODIs remains intact.
In all formats of the game, Sachin scored 2541 runs in 1998 and it was the record for most runs by a batsman in a calendar year at that time. However, unlike his ODI record, this one has been bettered by a batsman thirteen times including twice in 1999 by Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.
Also read: Most runs in a calendar year by Indian batsmen
One of the reasons why the record for most runs in international cricket in a calendar year has been bettered and broken several times in recent years is the advent of T20 cricket and batsmen friendly pitches which has helped players rack up runs at a far better rate than in the 90s.
#5. Kane Williamson - 2692 runs in 2015
New Zealand captain, Kane Williamson, is at the fifth position for racking up 2692 runs in 2015 for the Black Caps.
Williamson scored 1376 runs in ODIs that year at an average of 57.33 and strike rate of 89.87. However, his teammate, Martin Guptill, had the most runs in ODIs that year with 1489. Guptil was New Zealand’s star at the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup with a tournament highest 547 runs with an individual highest score of 237 not out while Williamson struggled and managed to score only 237 runs with an individual highest score of 57.
In test matches, Williamson scored 1172 runs in only 16 innings at an average of 90.15. Four players had more runs than him in tests that year but they played eight or ten innings more than the Kiwi.
It was in 2015 that Williamson scored his only double century which was an unbeaten 242 against Sri Lanka in the third innings of the match.