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KL Rahul is India’s designated wicketkeeper-batsman in ODIs, and in the upcoming series against Afghanistan, he will get a chance to complete 2000 ODI runs as a WK batsman.
KL Rahul needs 105 runs to complete 2000 runs in ODIs as a keeper-designated batsman. (Image credit: AFP)
KL Rahul has been India’s designated wicketkeeper-batsman in ODIs for quite some time now, and the 34-year-old right-hander from Karnataka will don the gloves for the Men in Blue in the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan.
During the first bilateral ODI series between India and Afghanistan, which begins on June 13 in Dharamshala, Rahul will get a chance to register his name in the record books.
If Rahul scores at least 105 runs in the three-match series against Afghanistan, then he will become the third Indian after Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni to score 2,000 or more runs in ODIs as a wicketkeeper-designated batsman.
Dravid was the first Indian to achieve the milestone. He scored 2,300 runs in 73 ODIs as India’s wicketkeeper-designated batsman between 1999 and 2004.
Meanwhile, Dhoni amassed 10,599 runs in 294 innings of 347 ODIs as India’s wicketkeeper-designated batsman from 2004 to 2019.
Most runs as a wicketkeeper-designated batsman for India in ODIs
| PLAYER | TIME SPACE | MATCHES | RUNS | BEST SCORE | AVERAGE | 100/50 |
| MS Dhoni | 2004-2019 | 347 | 10,599 | 183* | 50.23 | 9/73 |
| Rahul Dravid | 1999-2004 | 73 | 2300 | 145 | 44.23 | 4/14 |
| KL Rahul | 2020-2026* | 54 | 1895 | 112* | 57.42 | 3/12 |
| Nayan Mongia | 1994-2000 | 140 | 1272 | 69 | 20.19 | 0/2 |
| RISHABH PANTS | 2019-2024 | 24 | 714 | 125* | 35.70 | 1/5 |
| Kiran More | 1984-1993 | 94 | 563 | 42* | 13.09 | 0/0 |
| Parthiv Patel | 2003-2012 | 27 | 448 | 56* | 22.40 | 0/3 |
| Ishan Kishan | 2021-2023 | 13 | 420 | 82 | 42.00 | 0/5 |
| Dinesh Karthik | 2004-2019 | 26 | 394 | 69 | 28.14 | 0/1 |
| Syed Kirmani | 1976-1986 | 49 | 373 | 48* | 20.72 | 0/0 |
Rahul currently has 1,895 runs in 48 innings from 54 ODIs as a wicketkeeper-designated batsman.
He also has a batting average of 57.42 in ODIs as a wicketkeeper-designated batsman, the third highest among all players in that role who have played at least 10 ODI innings.
Highest batting average by wicketkeeper-batsman in ODIs
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | MATCHES | RUNS | AVERAGE |
| AB de Villiers | South Africa | 59 | 2963 | 70.54 |
| Sanju Samson | India | 11 | 306 | 61.20 |
| KL Rahul | India | 54 | 1895 | 57.42 |
| Lanka de Silva | Sri Lanka | 11 | 161 | 53.66 |
| hope shai | West Indies | 148 | 6134 | 50.69 |
| MS Dhoni | India | 350 | 10,773 | 50.57 |
| Quinton de Kock | South Africa | 160 | 7120 | 46.84 |
| Jonny Bairstow | England | 17 | 585 | 45.00 |
| Rahul Dravid | India | 73 | 2300 | 44.23 |
| Monan Patel | USA | 26 | 1053 | 43.87 |
The world record for scoring most runs in ODIs as a keeper-designated batsman is held by former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara. Sangakkara played 360 ODIs as a wicketkeeper-batsman for Sri Lanka between 2000 and 2015, amassing 13,341 runs.
Sangakkara is followed by MS Dhoni in the list of wicketkeeper-batsmen with the most ODI runs. Dhoni scored 10,773 runs in 350 ODIs as a keeper-batsman, including 347 matches for India and three for Asia XI.
Sangakkara and Dhoni are the only two players in the world to have scored more than 10,000 runs in ODIs as designated wicketkeeper-batsmen.
About the author
Harshit Bisht has been a sports journalist with CNN-News18 since July 1, 2024, covering cricket with a keen eye on records, trends and match analysis. Based in Noida, he has reported extensively on…Read more
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