In running the mile it is the 4-minute barrier, for a 100m athlete it is 10 seconds, reaching an altitude of 8000m is the ultimate aim for a mountaineer and in Tennis perhaps to win a Career or a Golden Grand Slam.
Similarly in the gentlemen’s game, reaching 10,000 ODI runs is a dream of every batsman. It is by no means easy; it is a daunting task that cannot be conquered by the ordinary, but only by the prodigious and the daring.In the recently concluded 5th ODI between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, opener TM Dilshan became only the 11th player in ODI history to gain membership into the prestigious 10,000 club.
So far, 11 players from 6 different nations have scored 10,000 runs in ODI history. Sachin Tendulkar became the first to reach the milestone in 2001 against Australia at Indore. Inzamam-Ul-Haq was the second player to reach it against India at Birmingham in 2004. The third to reach 10,000 runs was Sourav Ganguly against Sri Lanka at Dambulla during the India Oil Cup in 2005. In the same tournament, during the final at RPS, Sanath Jayasuriya achieved the ultimate feat, becoming the fourth player to enter the 10,000 run mark.
The list is dominated by 4 Sri Lankans, Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene and now TM Dilshan, the most by a single country. Tendulkar is joined by two other Indians, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara, Inzamam-Ul-Haq and Jacques Kallis are the other members of this illustrious club.
Out of the 11, TM Dilshan is the only player currently active in the ODI arena with Chris Gayle of the West Indies next in line with 9221 runs. TM Dilshan, the newest member is also the oldest to join the club at 38 years and 285 days. Dilshan has in fact refined like fine wine with age. After the age of 35, Dilshan has scored 4391 runs at an average of 47.72 and a strike rate of 84. His average has improved immensely after he began opening the batting for Sri Lanka in 2009. Only Hashim Amla (54.45) and Sachin Tendulkar (48.29) have better averages than Dilshan (47.06) as openers, of those who have scored a minimum of 4000 runs. Out of Dilshan’s 10,000 runs, 2354 were scored outside the top 5 batting positions. No other batsman in the 10,000-run club has scored more than 750 runs when batting below the top 5.
The fastest to reach 10,000 runs (in terms of innings) is Sachin Tendulkar (259 innings, avg 42.63). He is followed by his former teammate Sourav Ganguly with 263 innings (41.22 avg). Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting (266 innings) and Jacques Kallis (272 innings) gained the third and fourth places respectively.
Mahela Jayawardene is the slowest to reach the milestone taking 333 innings (avg 33.45) while Sanath Jayasuriya played 328 innings (avg 32.13) to join the elite club.
However the fastest to reach 10,000 in terms of time span is Rahul Dravid. It took him 10 years and 371 days. TM Dilshan is the slowest in terms of playing years taking 15 years and 227 days. Jayasuriya is one day ahead of him having taken 15 years and 226 days.
Of the 11, Rahul Dravid had 77 half centuries when reaching the 10,000, the most by any member. He is followed by Jacques Kallis (71) and Inzamam-Ul-Haq (70).
Tendulkar had 28 centuries when reaching the milestone, five ahead of Ricky Ponting (23). Ganguly and TM Dilshan had 22 centuries under their names.
The least number of half centuries scored at the landmark is 45 by Dilshan, who is followed by Tendulkar (50). Inzamam had just 10 centuries when reaching 10,000 runs, the least by any player. Kumar Sangakkara and Rahul Dravid had 12 centuries each.
When landing on the 10,000, Jacques Kallis carried an average of 45.44 runs, the best of the eleven, followed by Ponting who averaged 42.90 per game.
‘Master Blaster’ Sanath Jayasuriya held the highest strike (88.52) at the time he achieved the landmark, while 12.06% of his runs were scored in sixes. Dravid’s strike rate of 70.75 is the lowest with only 2.31% runs scored in sixes.
Joining the elite club of 10,000 is a towering quest, requiring years of commitment, dedication and consistency. It is only for the erudite and the crème de la crème of ODI Batsman.
