Top Batsmen In World Cup History

2278 runs from 45 matches, average of 56.95, SR of 88.98, 6 centuries, 15 fifties

Tendulkar has more runs in World Cups than most players have in their entire careers. He (with Javed Miandad) has played in the most number of World Cups – six – and many would agree that his defining knock in the premier tournament was the 2003 75-ball 98 against Pakistan at Centurion. The maestro helped India chase down a biggish score in difficult conditions, the highlight being his slashed six off Shoaib Akhtar, then the fastest bowler on the planet.

1743 runs from 46 matches, 140 highest, 45.86 SR, 5 centuries and 6 fifties.

India ran into run-machine Ricky Ponting in the 2003 final when he eviscerated Sourav Ganguly’s bowlers with a 121-ball 140, inclusive of eight towering sixes. India were set a massive target of 360 to lift the Cup, and with an ask such as this in a game as big as this one – the match was already all-but-over.

1225 runs from 34 matches, 116 highest, 42 average, 86 SR, 2 hundreds and 7 half-centuries.

Lara, who was making a comeback, handed hosts South Africa a shock defeat In the opening game of the 2003 World Cup. His 116 – a knock of distinct, disparate halves – included a glorious six over long-off off Allan Donald and helped the Caribbeans to a challenging total from a totally helpless position. South Africa choked by three runs in the chase. Incidentally, Lara’s previous World Cup hundred, in the 1996 quarterfinal at Karachi, had also spelt doom for South Africa.

1165 runs from 38 matches, 120 highest, 34 average, 90 SR, 3 hundreds and 6 fifties.

Although he did not score a century in Sri Lanka’s victorious 1996 campaign, Jayasuriya, along with the pocket-powerhouse Romesh Kaluwitharana, pretty much reinvented the art of opening the batting in ODIs. The southpaw’s 221 runs at an average of 36 may look nothing special, until one heeds his strike rate: an enormously healthy (for those times) 131.

1148 runs from 36 matches, 128* highest, 46 average, 74 SR, 1 hundred and 9 fifties.

How much of an impact Kallis’ absence has on South Africa’s 2015 World Cup fortunes remains to be seen. His influence in previous World Cups, however, has been indisputable. His only World Cup century came in 2007 in West Indies when he massacred minnows Holland with a 109-ball 128, setting up a gargantuan win for his team.

1085 runs from 31 matches, 149 highest, 36 average, 98 SR, 1 hundred and 8 fifties.

The man who reinvented the role of the wicket-keeper/batsman in Test cricket was no slouch in the shorter format. Apart from being safe behind the stumps, Gilchrist crowned his 2007 World Cup by scoring a chance-less century in the final against Sri Lanka, his only ton in the premier event. The 104-ball 149 was enough to put the chase far beyond the reach of Lanka, and so was won Australia’s fourth World Cup trophy.

1083 runs from 33 matches, 103 highest, 43 average, 68 SR, 1 century and 8 fifties.

The original street fighter was a dependable, mood-shifting ODI batsman and a master of the late charge. Miandad was the first to play in 6 World Cups and was emulated later by Sachin Tendulkar.

1075 runs in 33 matches, 134* highest, 35.83 average, 76.89 SR, 2 hundreds and 5 fifties.

The Kiwis’ cerebral skipper was no slouch with the bat and is his country’s leading WC batsman in terms of runs scored. His stand out knock came in 2003 against South Africa in a must-win game. Needing 307 for victory, Fleming master-minded the chase with a brilliant, unbeaten 134, also his highest ODI score.

1067 runs from 25 matches, 143 highest, 56 average, 87 SR, 2 hundreds and 8 fifties.

Famous for ‘dropping the World Cup’ when he prematurely celebrated catching Steve Waugh in the 1999 event, Gibbs wrote himself into history when he smashed six sixes in an over, off Daan van Bunge in South Africa’s 221-run win over Holland in 2007.

1064 runs from 35 matches, 145 highest, 36.6 average, 86 SR, 2 hundreds and 6 fifties.

The Lankan middle-order batsman’s peak coincided with the 1996 final in which he put Australia to the sword with a classy , unbeaten 107. The century took Lanka to their first World Cup triumph and de Silva won over an island with his impeccable batsmanship.