Presenting the top-five highest run-getters in ICC World Cup history
What's the story
The 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup will get underway on October 5 with India being the hosts. The tournament will feature numerous prominent players across the 10 participating teams. Meanwhile, this will be the 13th edition of the ODI WC as the tournament has witnessed some enthralling action in the past. Here we look at the top-five run-getters in WC history.
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AB de Villiers has been remarkable in WCs
Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers occupies the fifth place on this list, having smoked 1,207 across 23 games at 63.52. The tally includes four tons and six fifties with 162* being his highest score. His strike rate of 117.29 is the highest among batters with at least 750 WC runs. Notably, de Villiers featured in three WC editions (2007, 2011, and 2015).
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Brian Lara holds the fourth spot
Former West Indies skipper Brian Lara featured in as many as five editions of ODI WCs (1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, and 2007). He accumulated 1,225 runs in 34 World Cup games at an average and strike rate of 42.24 and 86.26, respectively. The legendary southpaw smoked two tons as seven fifties at the event with 116 being his best score.
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Kumar Sangakkara is at number three
At number three, we have Sri Lanka's batting legend Kumar Sangakkara on this list, who featured in the 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2015 WC editions. He smoked 1,532 runs in 37 games at 56.74 with the help of five tons and seven fifties (HS: 124). The 2015 edition saw Sangakkara become the first batter to hammer four successive ODI tons.
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Ricky Ponting comes at number two
Two-time World Cup-winning skipper and Australian talisman Ricky Ponting is at number two. He featured in 46 games across five editions (1996, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011) and smoked 1,743 runs at 45.86. Ponting has five tons and six fifties at the event with his highest score (140*) coming in the 2003 final against India. Notably, Ponting is also the most-capped WC player.
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Sachin Tendulkar tops this list
The legendary Sachin Tendulkar remains the only player with over 2,000 WC runs. He featured in six editions, the joint-most for any player (1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011). In 45 WC appearances, he hammered 2,278 runs at 56.95. His tally of six tons and 15 fifties at the event is also the highest for any player. 152 reads his highest WC score.