Top 5 Indian batters with most runs as an opener in international cricket

1. Virender Sehwag – 15,758 runs

The Indian batting great is one of the finest batters to ever wear the Indian jersey. With his aggressive approach and hard-hitting, Sehwag dominated bowling attacks throughout his career in the Test and ODI format. With a total of 38 centuries batting as an opener, Sehwag’s name is definitely up there among the best openers in the game’s history.

2. Sachin Tendulkar – 15,335 runs

Arguably the best batter to ever play the game, there is a reason why Tendulkar was given the nickname of Master Blaster. He is the only batter in history to score 100 centuries in international cricket. He was a phenomenal opening batter who decimated bowling attacks with his terrific shots and single-handedly won India several matches.

3. Rohit Sharma – 15,039 runs

The current Indian skipper in both ODI and Test format is easily one of the best opening batters of his era. His knocks have been crucial for India in all the 3 formats and so has been his leadership. With a total of 48 international centuries in his career, Rohit has been a very important player for India in the last decade.

4. Sunil Gavaskar – 12,258 runs

Famously nicknamed ‘The Little Master’, Gavaskar was arguably the best opening batter of his era. Though his performances weren’t great in the ODI format, he more than made up for it with his performances in Test cricket. His incredible knocks in the longest format of the game single-handedly won India a big number of matches.

5. Shikhar Dhawan – 10,867 runs

Dhawan formed a deadly opening pair alongside Rohit Sharma and their partnerships turned out to be crucial for India while chasing big targets. His Test debut score of 187 against Australia in 2013 still remains as the highest individual score on debut by an Indian batter in Test cricket.