The No. 3 batter in One Day International (ODI) cricket has a highly crucial and demanding role. This player occupies a pivotal position in the batting lineup and should have the ability to hold one end together. They have the responsibility to stabilise the innings and then build partnerships, ensuring that the team doesn’t lose quick wickets.
They should have the ability to play the new ball and the versatility to play according to the needs of the game. They should look to play time and take the innings deep to lay a solid foundation for the batters to follow.
There are several legendary players in ODI cricket who have made a name for themselves by showing all these traits and succeeding at the international level. As mentioned, No. 3 is somewhere a batsman has a chance to make huge scores more often, and we will see which 10 batters have accumulated the most in their career.
Here are the top ten batsmen with the most ODI runs at the No. 3 batting position.
Most ODI Runs at No. 3
| Player | Innings | Runs | High Score | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 330 | 12662 | 164 | 42.48 |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 235 | 12060 | 183 | 60.60 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 237 | 9747 | 169 | 44.71 |
| Jacques Kallis (SA) | 200 | 7774 | 139 | 45.72 |
| Kane Williamson (NZ) | 138 | 6483 | 148 | 52.28 |
| Babar Azam (PAK) | 107 | 5545 | 158 | 59.62 |
| Dean Jones (AUS) | 131 | 5100 | 145 | 43.58 |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 105 | 4641 | 166* | 51.56 |
| Brian Lara (WI) | 106 | 4447 | 169 | 45.84 |
| Steven Smith (AUS) | 95 | 4369 | 164 | 52.01 |
Key insights from the above stats
2: Only one country has more than one player on this list of top run-getters at the No. 3 position, and it is Australia, which has 2 representations. One is legendary batter Ricky Ponting, and the other is the great Dean Jones.
9: Batters from 9 different ODI-playing countries populate this list. This excludes the full member nations: Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Ireland, and Zimbabwe.
12662: Runs scored by famous game in Johannesburg where Australia posted that epic 434.
