This article analyze the elite group of players who have revolutionised One Day International cricket with the highest career and match-day batting strike rates.
Highest Batting Strike Rate in ODIs
| Player | Team | Strike Rate | Innings | Runs | Balls Faced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andre Russell | West Indies | 130.22 | 47 | 1034 | 794 |
| Glenn Maxwell | Australia | 126.70 | 136 | 3990 | 3149 |
| Lionel Cann | Bermuda | 117.06 | 25 | 590 | 504 |
| Heinrich Klaasen | South Afrca | 117.05 | 56 | 2141 | 1829 |
| Shahid Afridi | Pakistan | 117.00 | 369 | 8064 | 6892 |
| Jos Buttler | England | 115.20 | 171 | 5515 | 4787 |
| Phil Salt | England | 114.75 | 31 | 988 | 861 |
| Luke Ronchi | Australia/New Zealand | 114.50 | 68 | 1397 | 1220 |
| Yusuf Pathan | India | 113.60 | 41 | 810 | 713 |
| Sharjeel Khan | Pakistan | 113.40 | 25 | 812 | 716 |
| Michael Leask | Scotland | 113.08 | 72 | 1547 | 1368 |
| Thisara Perera | Sri Lanka | 112.08 | 133 | 2338 | 2086 |
| Rizwan Cheema | Canada | 111.53 | 32 | 764 | 685 |
| Hardik Pandya | India | 110.89 | 68 | 1904 | 1717 |
| Imad Wasim | Pakistan | 110.29 | 40 | 986 | 894 |
Note: The batters who’ve faced a minimum of 500 balls are shown.
Key Insights on Highest Career and Match Strike Rates in ODIs
Highest Individual Career Batting Strike Rate Records in ODIs
West Indies’ Andre Russell has the highest career ODI batting strike rate. He struck at 130.22 while scoring 1034 runs off 794 balls in 47 innings.
Australia’s Travis Head, England’s Phil Salt, and Pakistan’s Sharjeel Khan are the three openers with a strike rate of 110 or more in ODIs.
Sachin Tendulkar has faced the most balls in ODIs, having played 21368 deliveries in 452 innings.
Tendulkar has also scored the most runs in ODIs, with 18426 runs at a strike rate of 86.23.
Bangladesh’s Mehrab Hossain Jnr has the lowest strike rate in ODIs, having mustered 276 runs at 42.99 in 16 innings.
Bermuda’s Lionel Cann has the highest batting strike rate among associate nation batters in ODIs. He scored 590 runs from 504 balls in 25 outings at a strike rate of 117.06.
Shahid Afridi stands alone on this list with over 8,000 ODI runs, yet he represents a statistical paradox. Although his 117.01 strike rate is the highest of any batter to reach the milestone, he is the slowest to get to 8K ODI runs in terms of innings (367), largely due to his lower-order role and a career average of 23.57.
Best Batting Strike Rates by Venue and Playing Conditions
Glenn Maxwell boasts the highest batting strike rate in home ODIs, going at 126.39 while aggregating 1499 runs from 1186 balls in 50 innings in Australia.
Maxwell’s strike rate jumped to 136.49 while scoring 834 runs from 611 balls in India. This is the highest strike rate by a batter in a single country in ODIs.
Maxwell is the only batter to strike above 120 in three countries, with England being the other nation, where he has struck at 121.37 (761 runs off 627 balls).
Rohit Sharma is the only batter among the list of batters with 5000+ runs at home ODI to strike at a rate of 100+ in the format.
Afridi has the highest strike rate in overseas ODIs, having struck at 124.95 while scoring 2909 runs off 2328 balls in 133 innings.
AB de Villiers accumulated 732 runs off 564 balls at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. This is the highest strike rate by a batter at a single ground in ODIs. ABD’s fastest ever ODI century, achieving the feat in just 31 balls against the West Indies on January 18, 2015, came in Johannesburg.
Top Batting Strike Rate Records Against Specific Teams and Years
India’s Virender Sehwag is the only batter to strike above 120 in three years in ODIs – 136.59 in 2009, 123.09 in 2011, and 120.02 in 2008.
Glenn Maxwell also has the best batting strike rate against an ODI team, having racked up 950 runs off 708 deliveries at 134.18 against India.
Shahid Afridi is the only batter with a strike rate of 130-plus against two teams in ODIs – Zimbabwe (130.70) and New Zealand (130.50).
New Zealand’s James Neesham has the highest strike rate in an ODI innings (minimum 10 balls faced). He smashed an unbeaten 47 off 13 balls at a strike rate of 361.53 against Sri Lanka in the 2019 Bay Oval ODI.
New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum has recorded the highest strike rate in a calendar year in ODIs. He struck at 152.49 while collecting 764 runs from 501 balls in 2015.
Check: Most Runs in a Calendar Year in ODIs