IND v AUS 2020: KL Rahul tops run-charts for India in ODIs this year; ends Sharma's and Kohli's 10-year dominance
The Indian team finished the 2020 ODI season with a magnificent victory over Australia at the Manuka Oval. Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja scored half-centuries for the visitors, while T Natarajan, Shardul Thakur, and Jasprit Bumrah did an incredible job with the ball. KL Rahul could not impress in the game but had a memorable ODI run in 2020.
With 443 runs to his name in nine ODI matches, KL Rahul ended 2020 as the highest run-scorer for the Men in Blue. Either Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma had held this record from 2010 to 2019. However, the Karnataka-based batsman has ended their dominance this year with his impressive performances in ODIs.
Captain Kohli finished at the second position this year; aggregating 12 runs lesser than KL Rahul. Number four batsman Shreyas Iyer secured the third position with 331 runs to his name in nine innings.
Rohit Sharma missed the ODI series against New Zealand and the away series versus Australia. However, he was one of only three Indian batsmen to record an ODI hundred this year.
2020 was KL Rahul's best year in ODI cricket
While the cricketing world came to a standstill from March to July because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the break did not affect KL Rahul's performances. The right-handed batsman dominated the Kiwi bowlers in New Zealand, scoring one century and one fifty in three games.
Rahul played six one-dayers against Australia in 2020, amassing 239 runs in total. The fact that the 28-year-old finished the year with a strike rate of 106.23 in ODIs shows how he took on the bowlers in this format of the game.
KL Rahul also won the Orange Cap in IPL 2020, while he played a pivotal role in India's 5-0 T20I series win against New Zealand.