Jason Gillespie names India’s top 5 ODI batters of all-time; Sachin Tendulkar excluded

Former Australian pacer Jason Gillespie has named his top 5 Indian batters of all-time in One Day Internationals. Interestingly, he has picked the legendary former Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar at the sixth position, raising eyebrows.

Speaking exclusively on The Fast Bowling Cartel YouTube channel, Gillespie has ranked the former Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan at the fifth position for having an average of 44 and a strike rate of 91. 

“Shikhar Dhawan would be number 5 for me. I think he’s slipped under the radar a bit. An average of 44 with a strike rate of 91, which is a huge number. So he would be my number five Dhawan,” said Gillespie on The Fast Bowling Cartel YouTube channel.

Moving forward, he has picked up the former Indian captain, MS Dhoni, at the fourth spot. Later, he ranked Virender Sehwag at the third position for having a strike rate of 105 and an average in the mid-30s.

“Dhoni would be number four for me. Dhoni’s numbers are absolutely brilliant and you know what a finisher he was. Virender Sehwag would be number three for me. A strike rate of around 105, an average in the mid-30s, is very good and he comes in at number three on my list,” he stated.

Additionally, the former Aussie went ahead with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli at the second and first positions, respectively. Moreover, he revealed that due to modern-day dynamics of the game, he had to slot Sachin outside the top 5.

“The real surprise is probably at number two. Here, I would put Rohit Sharma at number 2. I mean, with three double centuries in ODIs, Rohit Sharma is the number 2 batsman for me. With his strike rate of 93 and average under 50, that’s pretty good. Number one is absolutely no surprise that Virat Kohli is number 1, I would even say that I think he is the best ODI player in the world,” he observed.

“I have some very good players who have been left out, and probably no one is bigger than Sachin. He is number six in my list. So that in itself is controversial,” Gillespie concluded.

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