The sport of cricket has received worldwide popularity over the last few years. The introduction of the T20 format has helped the ICC add more countries to its list of associates. In fact, Ireland and Afghanistan attained Test status after their phenomenal performances in the other forms of the game. Talking about cricket, the most important aspect of any batsman is to play a big inning. His aim is to remain unbeaten till the end of the innings and score as many runs as possible for his team. While batting in the second innings, the batsman’s goal is to take his team to the target.
Hence, the importance of remaining not out in any match is very high. Here are the top 5 batsmen who have remained unbeaten for the most times in international cricket.
Chaminda Vaas – 108 times
Sri Lanka’s strike bowler, Chaminda Vaas did not achieve much success with the bat. However, as he batted in the lower order, there were many instances when his team got all out, and he was the last man standing. He has remained unbeaten in 35 Tests, 72 ODIs and 1 T20I.
Shaun Pollock – 113 times
Another fast bowler to feature on this list is the South African medium pacer Shaun Pollock. The all-rounder had better numbers than Chaminda Vaas in the batting section, but just like Vaas, he did not lose his wicket in 72 ODI innings. His unbeaten 39 Test innings and 2 T20I innings powered him to the fourth rank.
Muttiah Muralitharan – 119 times
Although the Sri Lankan spin wizard, Muttiah Muralitharan could not score a single hundred in his entire career, he scored a century in the statistic of remaining unbeaten at the end of an innings. 56 of the 119 instances came when he donned the whites, while the remaining occurred in white ball cricket.
James Anderson – 135 times
English tail-ender James Anderson is still playing Test cricket, and in the 212 innings that he has played, Anderson has not lost his wicket on 89 occasions. Interestingly, he remained not out in three of the four T20I innings that he played.
MS Dhoni – 142 times
While all the names above achieved this feat because they batted in the lower order, MS Dhoni owns the number one rank because of his ability to finish off the innings. He could also bat well with the tail-enders in Tests. The fact that he remained not out in 84 ODIs and 42 T20Is highlights the fact that he is one of the best finishers in the modern day cricket.
