The young gun Shubman Gill is having a dream time in the cricket arena ahead of the ICC World Cup 2023. Gill has emerged out to be the best opening partner for captain Rohit Sharma for the World Cup as he has smoked over a thousand runs in 2023. The 24-year-old cricketer has leapfrogged the likes of Ishan Kishan, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul to be among the top choices to open in all three formats.
Gill is having a year to remember. He is the only player to have scored more than 1,000 runs in ODIs in 2023. Gill has also scored five centuries in the ongoing year which also includes a double hundred that he made against New Zealand. Due to his stellar 1230-run year, the opening batter is a hot favourite to shatter Sachin Tendulkar's 25-year-old record.
Gill in line to break Tendulkar's World record
The Gujarat Titans batter stands a chance to break Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar's record of most runs scored by any player in a calendar year. Tendulkar has scored 1894 runs in 1998 which is the most in a year in ODIs. Gill is 664 runs behind the iconic player but has 12-14 matches ahead of him this year to go past the former player. India have to play at least 9 World Cup games, which can increase to 11 and then have a three-game ODI series against South Africa in December.
Gill has taken 20 matches to hit 1230 runs in 2023 and has an average of 72.35. Going by his current form and average, the young star can score from 868 to 1008 runs, which will also see him cross the 2000-run mark in the format.
Top five players to score most runs in a calendar year
Gill is currently not inside the top five list of players to score the most runs in a year as he stands at 44th. Indians dominate the top five tally with Sachin featuring twice himself. Tendulkar made 1894 runs in 1998 and 1611 in 1996. Sourav Ganguly stands at second with 1767 runs in 1999, while Rahul Dravid is in third with 1761 to his name. Matthew Hayden is the only foreign player in the top five as he has scored 1601 runs in 2007.
| Player Name | Runs |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 1894 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 1767 |
| Rahul Dravid | 1761 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 1611 |
| Matthew Hayden | 1601 |
