Highest Individual ODI Scores On Each Batting Position
Rohit Sharma added 202 runs with Virat Kohli during his 264-run knock (BCCI)
Since the format’s introduction to world cricket, ODIs have witnessed individual batting brilliance in every position. From facing the new ball as an opener to anchoring the innings as a middle-order, each member of the batting line-up serves a purpose and adds value to their side.
Celebrating the remarkable feats of all batters commanding positions from number one to 11, we at OneCricket dive into the cricketing archive to unveil the highest individual ODI scores achieved at each specific batting position.
Most runs in an ODI innings (by each batting position)
Position Number 1: Martin Guptill 237*
Martin Guptill (Twitter)
On a fateful 2015 March Day of Wellington, New Zealand hero Martin Guptill decided to take the attack to West Indies like no other at the World Cup quarter-final stage. Opening the innings with captain Brendon McCullum upfront, Guptill took first guard against West Indies new-ball pacer Jerome Taylor.
The ensuing events of the innings were nothing short of a massacre of West Indies bowlers as the Kiwi opener blasted an unbeaten 237 in the match. The cricketer whacked 11 sixes and 24 boundaries in his 163-ball marathon, in what remains to be ODI cricket’s second-highest individual score and the highest while batting at number 1 position.
Position Number 2: Rohit Sharma 264
Rohit Sharma (Twitter)
Rohit Sharma, no stranger to big ODI hundreds at this stage, notched up the second of his three double-centuries for Team India in November 2014. Allowing opening partner Ajinkya Rahane to face the first cherry, Sharma, at the other end, soon took guard and launched an all-out assault on Sri Lankan bowlers in Kolkata.
The opener produced 264 of his finest runs in an innings, glittered with nine sixes and 33 boundaries, to charge up India’s total to 404-5. Sharma’s 173-ball hurricane even outscored the entirety of Sri Lanka’s 251-run effort in the same game. Apart from topping the scoring charts at number two, his 264 stands tall as ODI’s highest individual score at any position.
Position Number 3: Charles Coventry 194*
Charles Coventry (Twitter)
For more than a decade, Saeed Anwar’s 194 against India stood out as ODI’s magnum opus score. Zimbabwe’s number three Charles Coventry usurped the same score during his side’s 2009 home ODI against Bangladesh.
Coventry scored an exact 194, albeit unbeaten, off just 156 balls in an innings where none of his teammates managed to score beyond 40.
Position Number 4: Viv Richards 189*
Viv Richards (Twitter)
West Indies great Viv Richards bludgeoned 189 unbeaten runs against England during his side’s 1984 ODI in Manchester. Arriving at the crease at 11-2, the cricketer found no ideal partner until he decided to take up the entire onus on himself at 166-9. Richards added a century-plus stand with number 11 Michael Holding to take West Indies to a match-winning 272-9.
The right-hander himself finished with 189* from just 170 balls, thus accounting for nearly 70 per cent of his team’s total.
Position Number 5: Jaskaran Malhotra 173*
Jaskaran Malhotra (Twitter)
AB de Villiers’ long-standing 162* from the 2015 World Cup at number five was broken by USA wicketkeeper Jaskaran Malhotra more than six years later in Al Amerat. The Indian-born player even smacked six sixes in an over at one stage in an innings and eventually finished with an unbeaten 173 from just 124 balls. Overall, Malhotra hit four boundaries and a staggering 16 maximums in his whirlwind knock.
Position Number 6: Kapil Dev 175*
Kapil Dev (Twitter)
Kapil Dev’s iconic 175* batting at number six against Zimbabwe paved the way for India's emphatic World Cup 1983 win. The star all-rounder arrived at the crease at 9-4, which soon became 17-5, and he single-handedly guided his side to 266-8 from their 60 overs. Dev followed up his 175* with a wicket in the Zimbabwean run-chase as Team India won the contest by 31 runs.
Position Number 7: Luke Ronchi 170*
Luke Ronchi (Twitter)
Luke Ronchi, batting at number seven for New Zealand in their pre-2015 World Cup home ODI against Sri Lanka, catapulted his side from 93-5 in 20 overs to 360-5 by the end of their 50th. The then Kiwi stumper blasted 170* from just 99 balls and shared 267 unbeaten runs with fellow centurion Grant Elliot.
Ronchi bludgeoned nine scintillating sixes and 14 boundaries during his stay at the crease and paved the way for a 108-run victory for his country.
Position Number 8: Mehidy Hasan Miraz 100*
Mehidy Hasan Miraz (Twitter)
Mehidy Hasan Miraz scorched India’s seasoned bowling attack with a sparkling 100* from just 83 balls during Bangladesh’s home ODI in December 2022. The star all-rounder took his first guard at the crease within the 20th over, with his team reeling at 69-6.
Thereafter, Miraz shared crucial stands with Mahmudullah and tailender Nasum Ahmed to take Bangladesh to a competitive 271-7. Despite Rohit Sharma’s run-chase blitz, Bangladesh took home the game, while Miraz took home a ‘Player of the Match’ award for his efforts.
Position Number 9: Andre Russell 92*
Andre Russell (AP)
Mere months after making his ODI debut, Andre Russell bashed Indian bowlers in a 2011 ODI with a 64-ball 92* at North Sound. The all-rounder clubbed eight boundaries and five towering sixes to lift West Indies from 96-7 in 30 overs to a respectable 225-8 from 50 overs.
His rearguard assault almost turned out to be a match-winning, too, until an insurgent, Rohit Sharma, sealed a tense run-chase for the Indian side.
Position Number 10: Ravi Rampaul 86*
Ravi Rampaul (AP)
A few months after Andre Russell achieved the all-time ODI record for a number 9 score, his teammate Ravi Rampaul scaled the record for the number 10 position, that too, against the same opponents.
Rampaul single-handedly lifted West Indies from 149-8 to 269-9 by unleashing his career-best 66-ball 86* against India in Visakhapatnam. However, Virat Kohli sealed the limelight in the game with 117 in the run-chase.
Position Number 11: Mohammad Amir 58
Mohammad Amir (Twitter)
After Mohammad Amir leaked runs with the ball to a rampaging English side during their 2016 Nottingham ODI, the speedster decided to make some amends with the bat to delay the inevitable for Pakistan.
Batting at number 11, Amir completed his half-century from just 22 balls and eventually finished with an aggressive 28-ball 58. His innings made little difference to the overall result as Pakistan still fell a staggering 169 runs short of England’s then-record 444-3.
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