ICC World Cup 2019 batsmen: Pre-tournament runs, fours, sixes, strike rates, other batting records

With a week to go before the World Cup, let us have a look at some of the relevant batting statistics of the players. These numbers reflect the chart leaders only from the ten participating countries against only the ten participating counties from January 1, 2018.

Virat Kohli‘s numbers look staggering over this period. Not only does he have most runs, his average and strike rate make fantastic reading. Rohit Sharma, too, has been excellent.

Player	Team	R	Ave	SR	4s	6s
Virat Kohli	India	1,813	90.65	100	180	18
Rohit Sharma	India	1,563	60.11	92	144	55
Joe Root	England	1,264	54.95	87	96	6
Jason Roy	England	1,262	48.53	110	135	35
Jonny Bairstow	England	1,232	44.00	117	151	34
Ross Taylor	New Zealand	1,232	82.13	92	99	17
Shikhar Dhawan	India	1,190	41.03	97	164	13
Eoin Morgan	England	1,156	52.54	100	100	39
Aaron Finch	Australia	1,127	49.00	85	89	31
Shai Hope	West Indies	1,093	64.29	81	82	20

The batting averages chart has a surprise entry – of Rassie van der Dussen – at second spot, just after Kohli. Hashmatullah Shahidi features at five.

Player	Team	R	Ave	SR	4s	6s
Virat Kohli	India	1,813	90.65	100	180	18
Rassie van der Dussen	South Africa	353	88.25	76	23	6
Ross Taylor	New Zealand	1,232	82.13	92	99	17
Faf du Plessis	South Africa	835	69.58	92	90	10
Hashmatullah Shahidi	Afghanistan	263	65.75	72	17	0
Shai Hope	West Indies	1,093	64.29	81	82	20
Chris Gayle	West Indies	577	64.11	114	31	47
Rohit Sharma	India	1,563	60.11	92	144	55
Usman Khawaja	Australia	769	59.15	84	77	4
Jos Buttler	England	1,026	57.00	124	87	43

Despite their excellent averages, no Indian features in the list of top ten strike rates. On the other hand, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow are both in the top three.

Player	Team	R	Ave	SR	4s	6s
Jos Buttler	England	1,026	57.00	124	87	43
Imad Wasim	Pakistan	348	49.71	121	35	9
Jonny Bairstow	England	1,232	44.00	117	151	34
Thisara Perera	Sri Lanka	592	31.15	117	41	26
Glenn Maxwell	Australia	665	36.94	116	66	18
Chris Gayle	West Indies	577	64.11	114	31	47
Shimron Hetmyer	West Indies	680	45.33	112	40	30
Colin Munro	New Zealand	453	21.57	111	59	12
Jason Roy	England	1,262	48.53	110	135	35
JP Duminy	South Africa	357	39.66	108	30	10

Kohli’s 9 hundreds (and 2.78 innings per hundred) are significantly better than anyone else’s tally.

Player	Team	Inn	100	I/100
Virat Kohli	India	25	9	2.78
Rohit Sharma	India	31	6	5.17
Aaron Finch	Australia	24	5	4.80
Jason Roy	England	26	5	5.20

Kohli’s 13 fifties have come at a rate better than one every two innings – but Ross Taylor actually has a better rate than even him.

Player	Team	Inn	100	50	50+	I/50+
Virat Kohli	India	25	9	4	13	1.92
Rohit Sharma	India	31	6	7	13	2.38
Eoin Morgan	England	28	1	11	12	2.33
Ross Taylor	New Zealand	21	3	8	11	1.91
Joe Root	England	31	4	6	10	3.10

Rohit’s 55 sixes have been the most over this period, but Chris Gayle‘s rate of a six every 11 balls puts him miles ahead of anyone else.

Player	Teams	B	6s	B/6
Rohit Sharma	India	1,708	55	31.1
Chris Gayle	West Indies	507	47	10.8
Jos Buttler	England	829	43	19.3
Eoin Morgan	England	1,159	39	29.7
Jason Roy	England	1,150	35	32.9
Jonny Bairstow	England	1,055	34	31.0
Aaron Finch	Australia	1,330	31	42.9
Shimron Hetmyer	West Indies	606	30	20.2
Thisara Perera	Sri Lanka	508	26	19.5
Martin Guptill	New Zealand	1025	26	39.4

Kohli has obviously hit most fours as well, but several have pipped him when it comes to balls faced per four. His consistency has been significantly dependent on singles.

Player	Team	B	4s	B/4
Virat Kohli	India	1,820	180	10.1
Shikhar Dhawan	India	1,232	164	7.5
Jonny Bairstow	England	1,055	151	7.0
Rohit Sharma	India	1,708	144	11.9
Jason Roy	England	1,150	135	8.5
Quinton de Kock	South Africa	781	107	7.3
Eoin Morgan	England	1,159	100	11.6
Ross Taylor	New Zealand	1,344	99	13.6
Joe Root	England	1455	96	15.2
Faf du Plessis	South Africa	911	90	10.1