Top 3 Indian ODI batsmen of 2019
Overall, Team India had a highly successful 2019 in one-dayers. They featured in 28 ODIs, out of which they won 19, and lost only eight (one match was abandoned).
Some of those losses were really stinging but it would have been a much happier 2019 had India lost a few more matches and instead managed to emerge triumphant in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand. The heartbreaking loss at Manchester sticks out like a sore thumb in what was otherwise an impressive year for Virat Kohli and his men.
Also, while the Men in Blue registered famous series wins in Australia and New Zealand, they were then stunned by the Aussies at home prior to the World Cup. Normalcy was restored when India won the series in West Indies and finished off the year with a hard-fought triumph against the same opponent at home.
Here’s a look at the top three Indian batsmen in one-dayers in 2019.
#1. Rohit Sharma
The Indian opener had yet another fantastic year with the bat in one-dayers, outlined by a record five hundreds in the World Cup. In 28 matches in 2019, Sharma amassed 1,490 runs at an average of 57.30 and a strike rate of 89.92. He notched up as many as seven hundreds in the year to go with six fifties, as the legend of Indian cricket's ‘Hitman’ grew further.
Beginning the year with a fluent 133 at Sydney, he went on to register consecutive fifties in New Zealand -- 87 and 62. After a lean patch, he scored 95 and 56 against Australia at home even though India went down in the series. Sharma, however, reserved his best for the World Cup. Starting off with an unbeaten 122 against South Africa, he went on to smash 140 in the marquee clash against Pakistan. After a couple of failures, he then registered a hat-trick of tons to lead India to the semi-finals where he, unfortunately, managed only one.
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Normalcy returned when he blazed away to 159 against West Indies at Visakhapatnam and ended 2019 with a typically aggressive 63 at Cuttack.
#2. Virat Kohli
Nothing really changed for the Indian captain in 2019. Like his deputy, Virat Kohli too piled on the runs for India, and agony for the opponents. In 26 matches, Kohli scored 1,377 runs at an average of 59.86 and a strike rate of 96.36, with five hundreds and seven fifties. Like Rohit, he too rued the failure in the World Cup 2019 semis against New Zealand.
Kohli hit a hundred (104) in his second ODI of the year, against Australia at Adelaide. He also notched up back-to-back tons in the home series against Australia -- 116 at Nagpur, and 123 at Ranchi (the latter going in vain as Kohli played a lone hand in the chase of 314). At the World Cup, he strung together five consecutive fifties before once again faltering in the knock-out game. He was back in business with twin hundreds in West Indies, and an aggressive 85 at Cuttack to seal the series against the Windies.
#3. KL Rahul
With Shikhar Dhawan constantly battling injury issues, KL Rahul got some much-needed opportunities, and he did not disappoint. In 13 matches, Rahul managed an impressive tally of 572 runs at an average of 47.66 and a strike rate of 81.13. The opener hit two hundreds and three fifties in the year. Like Rohit and Kohli, he too was a part of the wickets procession in Manchester, managing just one.
The massive disappointment aside, Rahul cracked a World Cup hundred against Sri Lanka at Leeds. He also posted two fifties in the event -- 57 against Pakistan, and 77 against Bangladesh -- even while not always looking assured. He finished 2019 on a high, with a ballistic 102 at Visakhapatnam, and a measured 77 at Cuttack, playing his part in India’s come-from-behind series win against an inspired West Indies side.