Batters in cricket are those players who can skilfully score runs by hitting boundaries and running between the wicket. A cricket team on an average has six or seven players who can bat at any stage of the innings and keep the scoreboard ticking.
In international cricket, batters have to score consistently to ensure their place in the side. Moreover, their consistency pans out nicely for the team’s total at the end of the innings. The statistic that determines the batter’s consistency is called a batting average. A batting average is calculated by dividing the total runs scored by the batter with the total number of matches in which he was dismissed. So, if a batter has scored a total of 400 runs across all 10 matches that he has played where he was dismissed, then the batting average of the player is 40.
One of the ways by which batters can improve this statistic is by remaining not out at the end of the innings. Let us take the example of our batter above. In the 11th match this batter score 26 runs and remains not out till the innings ends. The batter’s new average is now calculated by dividing 426 with 10, as the batter remained not out in the 11th match.
In one day international cricket, among the players who have played at least 200 matches, Virat Kohli boasts an impressive average of 58.67 after 292 matches, that is followed by Michael Bevan (53.58 in 232 matches) and AB de Villiers (53.50 in 228 matches).
In test cricket, Don Bradman is renowned for his mind-boggling average of 99.94 in 80 innings that he played in across 52 matches. However, among the players who have played at least 100 test innings, Ken Barrington holds the record of the highest average of 58.67 (131 innings in 82 matches).
In international T20 cricket, Virat Kohli’s average of 52.73 (115 matches) is the highest among those who have batted in at least 50 matches. This is followed by Mohammad Rizwan’s tally of 49.07 (85 matches) and Suryakumar Yadav’s average of 45.55 (60 matches).
