Stats: Top 10 list of players who have conceded the most number of runs in ODI cricket
After a silent two-week period without international cricket, Pakistan and Zimbabwe kicked off the return of cricket at the highest level with the first of the two T20s on Sunday. The stakes will be raised even further in the coming weeks when India and South Africa battle each other in a three-match T20 series followed by a five-match ODI series.
Some might argue that the 50-over format is dying a slow death, struggling to cope with the immense popularity of T20 cricket, but the success of the 2015 World Cup and the keenly contested England-Australia series have breathed fresh life into ODI cricket.
The batsmen, as in any other format, have grabbed the headlines more often than the bowlers, but there have been many bowlers who have carved a name for themselves with their skills and longevity to place them amongst the leading wicket-takers in the ODI format.
Unfortunately, the same reason has contributed them to giving away plenty of runs over their long careers and it should come as no surprise that 9 of the Top 10 wicket takers in ODI history make it into the list of bowlers who have conceded the most number of runs in their career. The only exception, should also not be much of a shock as it is Australia’s Glenn McGrath who in spite of being the 7th leading wicket taker with 381 scalps to his name, is only 15th in the list in terms of runs conceded.
Here’s the Top 10 table of bowlers who have conceded the most number of runs in ODI history.
| No | Player | Matches | Runs | Wickets | Avg | Economy |
| 1 | Shahid Afridi | 398 | 13632 | 395 | 34.51 | 4.62 |
| 2 | Muttiah Muralitharan | 350 | 12326 | 534 | 23.08 | 3.93 |
| 3 | Sanath Jayasurya | 445 | 11871 | 323 | 36.75 | 4.78 |
| 4 | Wasim Akram | 356 | 11812 | 502 | 23.52 | 3.89 |
| 5 | Chaminda Vaas | 322 | 11014 | 400 | 27.53 | 4.18 |
| 6 | Anil Kumble | 271 | 10412 | 337 | 30.89 | 4.30 |
| 7 | Waqar Younis | 262 | 9919 | 416 | 23.84 | 4.68 |
| 8 | Daniel Vettori | 295 | 9674 | 305 | 31.71 | 4.12 |
| 9 | Shaun Pollock | 303 | 9631 | 393 | 24.5 | 3.67 |
| 10 | Brett Lee | 221 | 8877 | 380 | 23.36 | 4.76 |
The table reveals that Pakistan's Shahid Afridi, who has then the 5th most number of ODI wickets (395) has conceded the most number of runs in ODI cricket (13632). He’s followed by the leading wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan who has given away 12326 ODI in his career. The Sri Lankan also has the best average amongst the bowlers in the top 10, ahead of the likes of Wasim Akram, Brett Lee and Waqar Younis.
South Africa’s Shaun Pollock, who is 9th in the list having conceded 9631 ODI runs, has the best economy rate at 3.67, slightly better than the duo of Akram and Muralitharan.