With 1030 runs at an average of 73.57, Rohit Sharma deservedly earns a spot at the top of the order. He has five hundreds and three half-centuries during this period.
Bairstow became the first Englishman to score three consecutive centuries this year. His best innings came against Australia in Trent Bridge, where he smashed 139 off just 92 balls as England posted the highest-ever total in ODIs.
The Indian skipper continued to dominate the ODI batting charts as well in 2018. Kohli has now over 10,000 runs in One Day Internationals with 38 hundreds to his name. His highest score of 160* came against South Africa earlier this year.
In a top-order full of powerhouse batsmen, Root is someone who can hold the batting together. He has 946 runs in 24 matches and his best performance came when he scored two back to back hundreds against India – which gave England a series win as well.
The 22-year-old from Guyana had an impressive run while batting at No 5 spot. His stroke play was impressive during Windies’ tour of India. He scored 259 runs in five games at a strike rate of 140 against India which was extraordinary.
The Englishman not only continued to dominate Test cricket but showed excellent skill set in white ball cricket which shows his ability to adapt to each format. Buttler has 671 runs in 23 games, striking at almost 114 runs per 100 balls. His unbeaten innings of 100 and 110 against Australia in Sydney and Manchester stand out.
Sri Lanka’s slump continued in 2018 but Perera’s all-round abilities earn him a spot in the ODI team of the year. Perera picked up 25 wickets at an average of 20.72 and continued to make impressive contributions with the bat lower down the order.
With 48 wickets in 20 games at an average of 14.45, it becomes hard to leave out the young Afghan spin sensation. In the Asia Cup, Rashid showed he can be a threat to the big guns of the International cricket as well.
While India’s batting has been a force in limited over cricket, the inclusion of Kuldeep has given their bowling a different dimension. Left-arm wrist spin is something a lot of batsmen don’t get to face a lot, hence, they struggle against it. He has 45 wickets during 2018 but his best performance came against England at Nottingham when he snared 6 for 25.
Kagiso Rabada has quickly become South Africa’s leading paceman in a short period of time. While he sits at the top of the ICC rankings for Test fast bowlers, Rabada has bagged 23 scalps in 14 games at 26.17.
Jasprit Bumrah’s ability to control the opposition and pick up wickets has powered him to the top of ICC ODI rankings. His ability to fire in yorkers consistently make him extremely hard to score off. He has 22 wickets in 13 games at an outstanding economy of 3.62.
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