Stats: Top 10 run-scorers in World Cup history

Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar is the top run-scorer in World Cup history, having scored 2278 runs at a superb average of 56.95. He is followed by former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who is 535 runs behind the Indian maestro.

The gap between Tendulkar and Ponting is similar to the one between Ponting and the next batsman on the list, i.e Brian Lara. The West Indian great scored 1225 runs in 34 matches at the mega event, with his final innings in 2007 ending with a tragic run-out in front of his home crowd.

Despite being the top scorer across all World Cups, one regret Tendulkar surely will have is the fact that India never won a match against a Test-playing nation when he scored a century at the tournament. Of course, that is hardly his fault.

Sanath Jayasuriya, Adam Gilchrist, Stephen Fleming and Aravinda de Silva make the list despite having an average of below 40 at World Cups. Gilchrist and de Silva scored match-winning centuries in the finals of the World Cup in 2007 and 1996 respectively.

It is interesting to note that no one from the top ten on this list will take part in the upcoming 2015 World Cup. The batsman with the most World Cup runs coming into the tournament this year will Kumar Sangakkara who has scored a total of 991 runs at the three tournaments he has played in so far.

Here are the top 10 run-scorers of all time at the World Cup:

Rank	Batsman	Team	Matches	Runs	Average
1	Sachin Tendulkar	India	45	2278	56.95
2	Ricky Ponting	Australia	46	1743	45.86
3	Brian Lara	West Indies	34	1225	42.24
4	Sanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka	38	1165	34.26
5	Jacques Kallis	South Africa	36	1148	45.92
6	Adam Gilchrist	Australia	31	1085	36.16
7	Javed Miandad	Pakistan	33	1083	43.32
8	Stephen Fleming	New Zealand	33	1075	35.83
9	Herschelle Gibbs	South Africa	25	1067	56.15
10	Aravinda de Silva	Sri Lanka	35	1064	36.68

NOTE: Stats updated till 2 February 2015