Best Batsman in International Cricket 2024: 2024 has been a year of high scores and brilliant batting performances. Figuring out the best of the best in international cricket across all formats is always a tall task. What aspects of a batter’s game should be given priority in such lists? Is it their stats and the runs they scored, or is it their performances in clutch moments, or something completely different?

Today we will undertake this difficult task as we count down the 5 best batters in international men’s cricket in 2024 –

Best Batsman in International Cricket 2024

5) Joe Root

Joe Root quietly had one of his best years in Test cricket in 2024. While he did not play muck Test cricket in light of the ODI World Cup in 2024, he scored 787 runs in 8 matches with a solid average of 65.58. In fact, this was one of the best averages in a year for a bona-fine legend like Root.

He did, however, have a quiet year in ODI cricket and had an especially stinky World Cup. This means that he can’t be higher on the list.

4) Travis Head

Usually, when we look back at the best players of a particular year, we look for consistent performances throughout the calendar year. Travis Head’s inclusion in this list is a deviation from that rule. While he did have a solid year with the bat across all formats, it is only two innings that have propelled him into this list.

Head became an Australian hero when he played a big role in the national team winning two ICC trophies this year. First, in the World Test Championship final against India, he scored a massive 163 in the first innings to allow the Aussies to take a massive lead and win the Test. Second, he scored a match-winning 137 in the Cricket World Cup final against India. Both of these innings ensured that Travis Head became one of the most talked about and sought-after players in World cricket.

3) Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill had one of the best starts ever for an individual cricketer in 2024. Scoring 5 centuries across all formats including a double-century in ODI in just the first three months of the year. He then followed it up with an all-time great IPL performance. So why is he not any higher on this list?

While he did have a spectacular start to 2024, his performance dipped around the middle of the year. He also had a very underwhelming year in Test matches with all things considered and did not light the World Cup on home soil on fire like the ‘Prince of Indian Cricket’ was expected to.

2) Usman Khwaja

In a year where ODI cricket dominated the news, great performances in Test cricket went somewhat under the radar. This is why Usman Khwaja is not on many people’s list of the best cricketers in 2024.

Khwaja had a gem of a year when it comes to Test cricket. He was the highest run-scorer in the format this year, scoring 1210 runs in 13 matches with an average of over 52. He was also the highest run scorer in the Ashes Test series against England and the Border-Gavaskar trophy against India.

1) Virat Kohli

King-Kohli had a spectacular return to his best in 2024. After struggling for a few years with flashes of brilliance in between, Virat became the best player in the world across all formats this year. In ODIs, he was the second-highest run-scorer behind Shubman Gill and had an average of over 72, the highest in international cricket. He even had the greatest World Cup performance for a batter in the 2024 edition, scoring a whopping 765 runs with an average of 95

In Test matches, he was India’s highest run-scorer, scoring 671 runs in just 8 matches with an average of 55.91.

Most of all, he surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI centuries when he scored his 50th in the semi-final of the World Cup against New Zealand.