Most runs in ODI World Cup history: Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle has played 301 ODI matches and scored 10,480 at an average of 37.83, including 25 centuries.
Chris Gayle is one of the most explosive batters in the history of ODI cricket. He made his ODI debut for the West Indies in 1999 and became one of the most dangerous openers in world cricket. Gayle is known for his aggressive batting and ability to dominate the bowlers. He has scored 10,480 at an average of 37.83 in 301 ODIs, including 25 centuries.
He was the first West Indian batter to score 10,000 runs in ODI cricket. Apart from his explosive batting ability, he has also made a significant contribution with the ball, taking 167 wickets in the 50-over format. He has played several match-winning knocks for the West Indies in ODI bilateral series and World Cups.
Chris Gayle's stats in ODI World Cups
Chris Gayle made his ODI World Cup debut in the 2003 edition, which was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. He has played a total of five editions of the ODI World Cup, including 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019. He showed his potential in the 2003 edition and scored 228 runs in six matches, including a hundred against Kenya, but his team failed to qualify for the knockout stage.
He scored 474 runs at an average of 52.66 in nine matches of the 2007 ODI World Cup. He also smashed a hundred against South Africa in that tournament. But despite his great efforts, the West Indies were knocked out of the tournament in the Super Eight stage. Gayle scored 170 runs in six matches in the 2011 World Cup, and his team's campaign ended in the quarterfinals.
Gayle notched up a double century against Zimbabwe in the 2015 ODI World Cup, scoring 215 runs off 147 balls with the help of 16 maximums. He became the fourth batter to hit a double-hundred in the 50-over format. Overall, he scored 340 runs in six matches in the 2015 World Cup. Gayle played his last World Cup tournament in 2019 and scored just 242 runs in nine matches.
His best performance came against New Zealand, where he scored 87 runs off 84 balls with the help of six maximums and eight boundaries. His strike rate wasn’t that good in the 2019 editions compared to the previous tournaments, but he still made valuable contributions. Overall, he has scored 1186 runs at an average of 35.93 in 35 ODI World Cup matches.