Tillakaratne Dilshan was the top run scorer of the 2011 cricket world cup with 500 runs, he averaged 62.50 and had a strike rate of 90.74.
I know that is a very helathy strike rate, but from what we’ve seen from Dilshan in the past, it actually looks quite tame.
Dilshan was one of only 4 players to score over 400 runs. The other 3 are, not surprisingly Sachin, he scored 482 runs, with an average of 53.55 and a strike rate of 91.98.
Nothing Sachin achieves surprises me anymore. Teams have their best batsmen at the top of the order to give them the maximum amount of overs to face. At his age and with all the talented batsmen India have, Tendulkar still commands a place in the team as an opener.
Kumar Sangakkara scored 465 runs at a remarkable average of 93.00 and with a strike rate of 83.78. Like MS Dhoni, Sangakkara carries all the teams responsibility on his shoulders, to be a wicketkeeper who can bat is one thing, to be a wicketkeeper and a world class batsman and captain is something else.
How do these guys keep performing at the level they do? I know that Sangakkara gave up wicketkeeping in the test team, but he still has a lot to do and is still a world class performer.
Then we have Jonathan Trott with 422 runs at an average of 60.28 and strike rate of 80.84. Trott may not have the strike rate of the others, I’m not sure he has the shots either, but he was effective for England.
I have heard people on radio and TV criticising him for been too slow in games, I even heard some idiot blaming him for the Sri Lanka defeat saying his slow play cost England wickets at the other end.
As it was, we got hammered. But I think we would have looked a lot more stupid getting bowled out for around 160-170, which I think may well have happened without Trott.
Trott looks set to be an important member of the England 50 over team moving forward, the only problem with the start he has had, is how long can he keep it up for?
A full list of the top run scorers can be found here.