The biggest strength of a top-order batter should be his/her ability to bat for a long time, especially as the format gets longer. This theory holds good for ODI cricket, where there are 50 overs to be batted by a side and, invariably, a batter or 2 has to occupy the crease for a long time and help the team post a huge total on the board or help them chase.
If a batter bats long, then the runs will definitely come at one point or another, and in a tournament such as the World Cup, consistency is paramount. A team will benefit from a batter having the ability to occupy the crease and the rest of the players batting around him.
So here we will see the top 10 batters in World Cups with respect to the number of balls they have faced in this quadrennial tournament.
Most Balls Faced in ODI World Cup History
| Player | Innings | Balls Faced |
|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 44 | 2560 |
| Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 42 | 2180 |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 37 | 2035 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 35 | 1770 |
| Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) | 36 | 1619 |
| Javed Miandad (PAK) | 30 | 1592 |
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) | 28 | 1561 |
| Jaques Kallis (SA) | 32 | 1543 |
| David Warner (AUS) | 29 | 1505 |
| Rohit Sharma (IND) | 28 | 1493 |
Key Insights
1180: The total number of players who have played at least a single ICC Cricket World Cup game since the 1975 edition is 1222, and out of those 1180 batters have faced 1 or more balls in their World Cup careers.
9: Barring Rohit Sharma, 9 batters have faced 1500 or more balls in ICC Cricket World Cup history.
2: Number of batters here who have played in 6 World Cups. They are Pakistan’s Javed Miandad and India’s Sachin Tendulkar.
2560: Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for playing the maximum number of balls in World Cup history, and he has played the most innings (44) in World Cup history, though Ricky Ponting has featured in most World Cup games (46).
