Top 5 Indian ODI opening batsmen of all time

In the history of ODI International Cricket, India has been one of the most successful teams, after Australia. They have won two World Cups (1983 and 2011), which is second only to Australia, who have won it five times. The Indian ODI teams have also performed very well in other important ODI tournaments, like the Mini World Cup (Champions Trophy), Asia Cup, Benson and Hedges Tournament and other triangular and bilateral series.

Over the years, India's performance in the shorter format of the game has improved. India became an important force to reckon with, ever since they won the World Cup in 1983. However, they were not very consistent.

As a result, up to the 1990s, they were mostly among the top five teams in the world but were rarely in the top three.

But in the 21st century, the Indian ODI teams improved a lot. The change started under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly, when India, became one of the powerhouses of One Day International cricket. Then MS Dhoni took the team one step further. It was under Dhoni's captaincy, that the team became the best in the world.

They won their second World Cup in 2011 and won other important tournaments like the Champions Trophy in England and the triangular CB Series in Australia. Then Virat Kohli, took over the reign from MS Dhoni and made the team even stronger. At present, the Indian ODI team is not only at the top of the ladder, but they are being considered as one of the best teams in the history of the game.

The main credit for the success of Indian ODI teams, over the years, should go to its great batsmen. The country has produced some of the greatest ODI batsmen of all time.

From the highest run-scorer to the scorer of the highest individual score in an ODI, it is the Indian players who hold most of the batting records. In this article, we try and pick the five best One-day International opening batsmen that India has ever produced.

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#5 Shikhar Dhawan

Matches: 115, Runs: 4935, Highest Score: 137, Average: 45.70, Centuries: 15

Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan has played only 115 ODI Matches. But what he has already achieved in his short career, makes him one of the best Indian ODI Openers of all time. He has scored almost 5000 runs, at an incredible average of 45.70, which is better than even the greats, like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag.

Shikhar Dhawan's opening partnership with Rohit Sharma, has been the best in the world, in recent years. This swashbuckling left-hander from Delhi, has played many memorable matches winning innings for India at the top of the order.

Dhawan's ability to score big runs consistently, in spite of playing a very attacking brand of cricket, is what makes him so special. He has been instrumental behind India's tremendous success in the ODI format in recent years, alongside Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

#4 Virender Sehwag

Matches: 251, Runs: 8273, Highest Score: 219, Average: 35.00, Centuries: 15

Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag was one of the most devastating openers in the history of One Day International cricket. He played many memorable and match winning innings as an opener.

Sehwag started off his ODI career as a middle-order batsman, as India had the great opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly at the top. However seeing Sehwag's attacking capabilities, the team management promoted him to the opener's slot, with the aim of scoring quickly in the first 15 overs of field restrictions.

Sehwag did successfully what was expected of him. He took on the opposition bowlers from the very first over and scored quick runs. He had an amazing strike rate of 104.33, i.e. he scored more than run a ball, in a career spanning over a decade. His style of play was unique and his and match-winning ability was unparalleled. He was truly one of the best one-day openers for India in the history of ODI cricket.

#3 Rohit Sharma

Matches: 193, Runs: 7454, Highest Score: 264, Average: 47.8, Centuries: 21

The Hitman: Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma is undoubtedly the best ODI opener in the world at present. He has been one of the biggest match winners for India in the last 4-5 years.

However, Rohit started off his career as a middle-order batsman, where his performance in the initial years, was average at best. But after seeing his huge potential, he was promoted to open the innings, and that completely changed his career graph.

As an opener, Rohit has been a prolific run scorer. He has already scored more than 7000 runs at an incredible average of almost 48. As an ODI batsman, Rohit Sharma has already scored 3 double hundreds, a remarkable feat, achieved by none other in the world.

He also has the record of scoring the highest runs in an innings, to his name.

His tremendous success has been instrumental in making the current Indian ODI Team, the best in the world and hence he is definitely one of the greatest ODI openers India has ever produced.

#2 Sourav Ganguly

Matches: 311, Runs: 11363, Highest Score: 183, Average: 41.02, Centuries: 22

"Prince of Kolkata" Sourav Ganguly

"The Prince of Kolkata", Sourav Ganguly, is a legend in the history of ODI cricket. He is arguably India's greatest ever left-handed batsmen in ODIs and one of the best ODI batsmen of all time.

He is India's 2nd highest run scorer in ODIs after Sachin Tendulkar. Most of the success that Ganguly achieved in his illustrious career, was as an opener. However, in his later years, he gave away his favorite opening position to Virender Sehwag and batted at number three.

As an opener Ganguly was the most prolific runs scorer in the world, in his initial years, often outscoring, even the great Sachin Tendulkar. He scored hundreds at will and his appetite for big runs made him a very special player.

Ganguly's great match-winning ability made him one of the best ODI batsman of his era. He is without a doubt, one of the best Indian ODI opening batsmen of all time.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

Matches: 463, Runs: 18426, Highest Score: 200*, Average: 44.83, Centuries: 49

Master Blaster: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

The "Master Blaster", Sachin Tendulkar, is undoubtedly the greatest ODI batsman of all time. He has been the biggest jewel of Indian cricket. A large part of Sachin's success, especially in the shorter format of the game, came at the top of the order, i.e. as an opener.

Although Sachin began his career as a middle-order batsman, he was soon promoted to open the innings, as India was lacking an attacking batsman at the top of the order, in those days. Sachin was quick to grasp his opportunity and made the opener's slot his very own. It was as an ODI opener, that he dominated the world cricket over the next two decades.

With more than 18 thousand runs and 49 hundreds to his name, Tendulkar owns almost all the possible records that a batsman can have in ODI cricket. His hundreds and other match winning innings were instrumental in bringing India many memorable victories.

He has been the poster boy of One Day cricket, and an inspiration for future generation players from all parts of the world. Thus Sachin Tendulkar deserves the number one spot in the list of Indian ODI openers of all time, without any doubt.