Fewest innings to reach 1000 men’s ODI runs for India
The Indian team has been blessed with some of the most skillful batters in the game ever since they started playing the gentlemen’s game and has been renowned for producing batting gems now and then. But some batters were more prolific than the rest in their early days. Here are the Indian batters who took the least number of innings to reach the 1000-run milestone in ODIs.
27 innings – KL Rahul
India’s mercurial opening batter KL Rahul is one of the most versatile cricketers in the game. Rahul made his debut in red-ball cricket in 2014 given his solid technical abilities, but it wasn’t until 2016 that he made his mark in white-ball cricket as he recorded a century on his ODI debut against Zimbabwe to announce himself on the international stage. He breached the 1000-run mark in 50-over cricket in his 27th innings.
25 innings- Shreyas Iyer and Navjot Singh Sidhu
Shreyas Iyer is the latest addition to this illustrious list as the right-hand batter reached the milestone in his 25th ODI innings against hosts West Indies. The 27-year-old has registered ten half centuries and a century in his brief ODI career so far but has often been criticised for his inconsistency. His numbers speak volumes of his skills in white-ball cricket and is one to watch out for in the future.
Navjot Singh Sidhu terrorized bowlers, especially spinners, with his ultra-aggressive approach in white-ball cricket. Renowned for six hitting capabilities in a trademark style, Sidhu announced himself in ODI cricket with four consecutive fifties in his first four innings and breached the 1000-run mark in just 25 innings, the fastest Indian at the time.
24 innings – Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan
India’s batting superstar Virat Kohli is quite expectedly on the top of this list as the elegant top-order batter has dominated bowlers for the majority of the last decade and his performances were there to see for everyone since his early days. Kohli surpassed Navjot Sidhu to become the fastest Indian to 1000 runs in ODIs in 2010.
Accompanying Kohli at the top of this list is batting stalwart Shikhar Dhawan, who has been one of the unsung heroes of the Indian batting order, while the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have garnered plaudits for their prolific outings. The batter was one of the reasons behind India’s Champions Trophy triumph in 2013 and joined Kohli at the top of the list in the same year.
