Data check for the decade in men’s ODI cricket: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma dominate batting charts

With India’s series win against West Indies, a decade came to a close on One-Day International cricket across the globe. It was pretty fitting in many ways with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli scoring half centuries as India chased down a target of 300-plus: these two men have pretty much dominated the batting numbers throughout this decade as you will see in the tables below.

It was also fitting that India won the final match of the 2010s as the men in blue were the most prolific ODI side of the decade. Having won one World Cup and Champions Trophy titles each, and making tremendous progress in all departments (first under MS Dhoni’s leadership and now with Kohli as captain), the decade in many ways belonged to India in the 50-over format.

Here is a look back at the decade gone by in men’s ODIs:

(Note: All numbers in this article are for men’s ODIs after January 1, 2010 till December 22, 2019 and sourced from ESPNCricinfo’s Statsguru. To view the tables in full swipe left or scroll right on your mobile/computer screens).

Team records

India had the distinction of reaching the finals of an ICC event the most number of times (three) in the past decade, with two of them resulting in championships. Many Indian fans would put the 2011 World Cup final winning-moment as the most enjoyable of the 2010s and for good reason.

The second half of the decade witnessed heartbreaks for India in the form of a Champions Trophy final defeat against arch-rivals Pakistan and a semi-final defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the World Cup. Even so, India finished the decade with the best win/loss ratio overall as well in the ICC events.

In the major tournaments as well, India’s win/loss ratio is significantly higher than other countries given the fact that the men in blue reached at least the semi-finals at all ICC events held this decade. If you consider the World Cup, India’s record is even better (a W/L of 5.25 compared to Australia’s 3.00).

Batting records

There are two names who rule the roost when it comes to the batting records since 2010: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

India’s current captain and vice captain have made this their era when it comes to racking up the statistics and crossing milestones in the last few years, and it is no wonder that either of the two are at the top of each of the four tables below.

Sixer Sharma sits comfortably at the top of the list of cricketers who cleared the fence with most regularity but look at the Universe Boss, who hit a six nearly every three overs he was out in the middle of West Indies. It is no surprise that the two men with the least number of balls taken to hit a six in ODIs in the top 10 are from the West Indies. And Kohli’s appetite for runs, marked by the ability to keep the ball on the ground as much as possible, is exemplified by the number of balls he takes for hitting a six on an average.

While Rohit dominated the scoring-big charts, Kohli was the master accumulator. The Indian captain, apart from scoring a whopping 42 centuries, also had a brilliant conversion rate from 50s to centuries.

And finally, just to reiterate how Kohli has made the ODIs his most favourite format to conquer:

Bowling records

India’s presence in the bowling charts is significantly less compared to that of the batting tables. In fact, the bowling charts make for a very varied reading. Lasith Malinga tops the charts for the wicket-takers followed by two spinners in Shakib Al Hasan and Imran Tahir. Mitchell Starc comes in at fourth while Ravindra Jadeja, believe it or not, is the most prolific Indian wicket-taker of the decade in ODIs.

In complete contrast to the list of highest individual scores table above, the all-time best bowling figures list was not disturbed too much in the last 10 years. For instance, the tenth best bowling figures in this decade is the 38th best overall. Only four of the top 10 best bowling efforts of all time have happened since 2010. On the other hand, the top 10 all-time best individual scores list has eight entries from the past 10 years.

When it comes to striking with the highest frequency, India’s presence in the top 10 improves with Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah finding themselves at fourth and fifth of the list (for minimum 100 wickets taken). Rashid Khan, one of the biggest superstars to emerge this decade thanks to the proliferation of the T20 leagues, also finds his way to the top three in this list, which is unsurprisingly led by Starc.

Best all-rounders

The need for good all-rounders in an ODI side has never been as significant as in the current era with teams striving to find someone who can shine in all three departments desperately. And one of the best in the business in this area has been Shakib Al Hasan, who had an extraordinary end to the decade with his exploits at the World Cup followed by a ban from ICC for not reporting corrupt approaches.

Wicket-keeping records

Only one man could top this list: Mahendra Singh Dhoni established himself as a wicketkeeper extraordinaire during the past 10 years, with his stumping skills evolving from impressive to superhuman.

Bonus numbers: Among the wicketkeepers MS Dhoni dominated the statistics, as well as a captain. There were also a plethora of 400-plus totals during this decade. More on that in the Twitter thread summing up the decade in ODIs here.