Averages in ODI cricket is a crucial factor. It’s the averages that determine whether you are a good cricket player or not. In the context of the best batting average in ODI, there are some legends of the game.
Batters who have been able to guide their team to winning ways both by scoring runs and also chasing the totals down. As we talk about the best batting average in ODI cricket, there are some common names.
Ryan Ten Doeschate (Netherlands)
The first name in the list of best ODI batting averages is Ryan Ten Doeschate. A genuinely talented allrounder from the Netherlands, Ryan played for 5 years in ODI cricket and was part of 33 matches. He scored runs with an average of 67.
Doeschate had 1541 runs to his name. Fans might think that the sample size is small, but his contribution to the Netherlands cricket is a massive dividend the Dutch might not be able to fulfill.
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Shubman Gill (India)
The prince of Indian cricket, Shubman Gill deserves to be on the list. The red-hot form of the man, along with consistency and runs against all opposition and conditions, make him one of the players to look for.
Gill made his ODI debut in 2019, and since then, he hasn’t looked back. As of February 2025, Gill has 2734 runs with an average of 62.13. This proves that Gill is a talent beyond definition. Shubman has plenty of cricket left in him, so more runs and averages can be expected from him.
Virat Kohli (India)
The man of the ODI cricket, Virat Kohli is known to rule the game for a very long time. Playing ODI cricket for 17 years now, Kohli has set and broken a lot of ODI records. In a total of 299 matches, Kohli has maintained an average of 58.20.
Kohli is known as the chase master who knows how to make the right things happen. The star batter recently reached 14000 runs in ODI, and is on the verge of taking the top of the table. Only time will tell if he truly can do that.
Dawid Malan (England)
A breath of fresh air in the destructive batting attack of England, Dawid Malan made the right things happen when we talk cricket. He batted at the top of the order with his left-handed elegance, and made runs for fun.
Malan was part of England’s ODI setup for 4 years, playing 30 matches and scoring 1450 runs with an average of 55.76. Fans might think that the sample size is small, but you need to watch him play to recognise how good he was.
Babar Azam (Pakistan)
One of the finest batters to have come out of Pakistan, Babar Azam also makes it into the list of best batting averages in ODI cricket. A dasher and a classy player, Babar made his international debut in 2015.
For the last 10 years, Azam has been the man. From 128 matches played, Babar has scored 6106 runs with an average of 55.50. He also has 19 ODI hundreds suggesting his runs weren’t a fluke at all.
Michael Bevan (Australia)
Before finishers was a trend in ODI cricket, Michael Bevan did it for fun. A superlative middle and lower-order left-handed batter, Bevan finished games for fun and won Australia more than a handful of games.
Remaining not out in most of the games meant that his average was 53.58 from 10 years of ODI cricket. Bevan played 232 matches, and maintaining that average talks more about the talent of the man.
AB De Villiers (South Africa)
The South African genius, who made 25 ODI centuries all with a strike rate of more than 100, is AB De Villiers. His talent, hard work, and dedication speak about the man. De Villiers served Africa from 2005, and never looked back.
He played until 2018, and maintained an average of 53.50 from 228 matches played. A true match-winner, AB De Villiers has 9577 ODI runs which is pretty good for someone who only received limited balls to bat.
Ben Duckett (England)
A new left-handed batting sensation at the top of the order, Ben Duckett has been doing well in all formats of the game. He scored his career-best of 165 against Australia in the Champions Trophy 2025.
In total, Duckett has been part of the ODI team since 2016, and played only 20 matches. Fair to say, he got limited opportunities in cutthroat competition. Duckett, until February 2025, has an ODI average of 52.42. Only time will tell whether he can maintain it or not.
Jonathan Trott (England)
If you leave the strike rate out, the class, dependability, and run-scoring ability of Jonathan Trott can hardly be questioned. Storming into the England setup through Ashes, Trott made a name for himself as a dependable batter.
He was part of 68 matches in a career that went 4 years. Meanwhile, Trott batted with an average of 51.25 winning matches for England. In his overall ODI career, Trott also had 4 centuries and 22 half-centuries to savior.
MS Dhoni (India)
The last name in the list of best ODI batting averages, is MS Dhoni. A truly talented player, Dhoni was a fantastic leader, middle-order batter, and a complete team man. Dhoni has won games for India, from the position of defeats.
Dhoni playing for 15 years in 350 ODI matches and maintaining an average of 50.57 is enough to talk about the talent and class of the man. Being the lower and middle order batter, Dhoni had 10773 runs to his name as well.
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