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These players have lit up the game in the previous 12 months and will go into the New Year as the top ranked batsmen so let’s take a look at who will be relied upon to score heavily in international cricket history as of 2022.
10 Best Current Batsmen of 2025 in all Formats
1. Marnus Labuschagne
Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne made cricket history in 2019 when he became the first player to be used as a concussion substitute in a test match. It was a piece of good fortune for the player and also for the Australians who has uncovered a star batsman, almost by accident.
Labuschagne replaced Steve Smith in that game and, by the end of the year, he had also overtaken his teammate as the leading run scorer in test match cricket. He continued to score heavily in the longest form of the game and the 27 year old will start 2022 as the number one ranked test batter.
In 35 international matches – tests and ODIs – up to and including the fourth Ashes test at Sydney in 2022, Labuschagne had made 2644 runs with seven centuries and a best of 215.
I originally wrote this article at the start of 2022, and I thought it would be interesting to revisit the list. As 2024 comes to a close, who has stayed at the top and who has suffered a dip in form?
In the case of Marnus Labuschagne, he continues to impress at test level, and since my original article, he’s also become an important member of Australia’s limited overs squads. In the red ball game, he’s one of the first names on the selectors’ teamsheet.
As of 2024, Labuschagne’s stats remain consistent. In his first 50 tests, he’s now made over 4,000 runs and his average is close to the 50 mark. His test best remains that 215 which he made against New Zealand in 2020.
2. Babar Azam
Pakistan’s Babar Azam enjoyed a stunning period in 2021 and he will start the new year as the number one ranked One Day International batsman in the world. Babar also features inside the top ten for both T20is and Test Cricket.
He starred in all three formats, scoring 939 runs in the previous calendar year. Those runs came at an overall strike rate of 127.58 and an average of 37.56. Those are impressive figures considering that test cricket will tend to drive strike rates down.
Overall, Babar Azam has played in 203 games across those three formats at the start of 2022. He has compiled over 9,000 runs with 20 international centuries.
The timing isn’t great in the case of Babar Azam. As I write this update, he’s just been dropped by Pakistan ahead of the second test against England in October 2024. A poor run of form precipitated the decision, but I was still surprised to see Pakistan move on from one of their most prolific and dangerous run scorers.
There’s still time for Babar and I’m sure he’ll be back. Current form may be mixed, but he’s still scored over 11,000 runs in international cricket. I think it was Ian Botham who once said: “Form is temporary, but class is permanent.”
3. Dawid Malan
Like all of England’s test batsmen, Dawid Malan has struggled against Australia in the 2021/22 Ashes series. However, he starts the New Year as the number one ranked T20i batsman and that’s enough to see him included on this list.
He became only the second English batter to make a T20i century when he scored 103 against New Zealand in 2019. Since then, he’s also made a 99 in this format for his country. There are criticisms that Malan doesn’t score quickly enough in limited overs cricket but he should remain an important player for England in 2022.
As I’d predicted in 2022, Dawid Malan continued to be an important player for England in T20 cricket. However, when he was overlooked for selection ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup, he retired from the international game.
He was 37 when he made that retirement announcement and maybe international recognition had come a little late in his career. We may still see some impressive batting displays at county and franchise level, but it’s over for Dawid Malan as far as international games are concerned.
He left international cricket with over 4,000 runs across 114 games in the three formats. Malan’s best performances came in T20is where he scored 1892 runs with a best of 103 not out.
4. Virat Kohli
Critics will be quick to point out that it’s been more than two years since Virat Kohli scored an international century. However, India’s test match captain remains a threat in all three forms of cricket and that’s why he deserves this place on our list.
The official ICC rankings tend to agree, with Kohli ranked second in One Day Internationals and ninth in test cricket. In 2022, he will want to prove those critics wrong and I’m expecting a big response from Virat Kohli this year.
It was pretty obvious that I would pick Virat Kohli. He remains one of India’s greats, and he eventually broke that long run without an international century. His form continues to be a little mixed, but he has much more to offer the Indian side.
Ahead of the start of India’s test series against New Zealand in October 2024, Kohli had scored over 27,000 runs in international cricket. In test matches, his exceptional average stands at a fraction under 49.00.
5. Joe Root
In terms of total test runs, 2021 was the best year of Joe Root’s career. In a struggling England side, he just failed to set a new record for most runs in a calendar year with an aggregate of 1708 which remains the third highest of all time.
Root made two double hundreds at the start of the year and, at times, it seemed like he was fighting a lone battle. As to what happens in 2022, much could depend on whether he decides to hold on to the England captaincy but there’s no doubt that Joe Root remains a world class batsman.
While my timing may have been off with Babar Azam, it couldn’t have been better in the case of Joe Root. During that same series between Pakistan and England in October 2024, Root made his highest test score and passed Sir Alastair Cook’s record of test runs by an English players.
There’s even a suggestion that Joe Root will eventually pass Sachin Tendulkar’s all time record for test runs. There’s a long way to go before he can overhaul that milestone, but for now, Root definitely remains as one of the best batsmen in world cricket.
6. Kane Williamson
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has been one of the most consistent batsmen in world cricket for some time now. Big things are expected from the Kiwi in 2022 and he retains some high ranking positions in all formats of the game.
As 2022 began, Williamson was ranked third in the ICC test ratings behind Marnus Labuschagne and Joe Root. He’s also ninth in the ODI table. Overall, New Zealand’s current captain has more than 15,000 international runs with 37 centuries and a highest score of 251.
Since 2022, injuries have been the main issue for Kane Williamson. He’s spent a lot of time on the sidelines in the two years since I wrote the first article, but he remains an important part of the New Zealand set up.
As I write this update, Williamson has just been ruled out of the first test on the Kiwis’ tour of India due to a groin injury. That’s minor, compared to the ACL tear he suffered in the 2023 IPL, but it’s still a concern.
He’s 34 now, so hopefully he’ll have a few more years at the top, but maybe Kane Williamson will need to drop one or two of the formats, and focus either on test cricket or limited overs matches.
7. Rohit Sharma
India’s Rohit Sharma is set to lead India in the limited overs formats and we should see a lot more of him in the white ball game. He hasn’t featured in India’s test series versus South Africa at the start of 2022 but he still has a lot to offer in the longer form of cricket.
Rohit is a record breaker in ODI cricket: He has three double hundreds in the 50-over format with the all-time highest score of 264. Those are incredible statistics and I expect he’s going to be prolific again in 2022.
Like Virat Kohli, having Rohit Sharma as one of my picks was a no brainer. In 2022 he was a prolific batsman, with years left at the top. The only real change is that he now skippers India in all three formats and at the age of 37, he’s starting to reach the end of his career.
As that home series with New Zealand began in October 2024, Rohit had made over 19,000 international runs. He still has that incredible record of the highest score in ODIs with 264 against Sri Lanka in 2014.
8. David Warner
Australia’s powerful left handed opener struggled in England in 2019 but that hasn’t been the case in the latest Ashes series. In six innings across the first four tests of 2021/22, David Warner was the third highest scorer overall with 273 runs at an average of 45.5.
He’s been a prolific batsman throughout his career and I won’t be surprised to see Warner enjoy another productive year. At the start of 2022, he was ranked sixth in test cricket and seventh in ODIs. The big shock in 2021 came when he was dropped by Sunrisers Hyderabad at the IPL but he is tipped to respond strongly with a new franchise.
The big change since 2022 is that David Warner has now retired from international cricket. He continued to score heavily for Australia, before calling time on his career with the national side.
We should still see Warner play in T20 franchise cricket for a while yet, but that’s it as far as the baggy green cap and the canary yellow shirt is concerned. In 383 international games across the three formats, David Warner scored 18,995 runs with 49 centuries.
9. Aaron Finch
Australia’s limited overs skipper Aaron Finch has played test cricket but he’s largely seen as a white ball specialist. The ICC ratings back that up and he was ranked fifth in ODIs and sixth in T20is at the start of 2022.
Notable achievements include the fact that Finch began 2022 with two of the three highest scores in T20 international cricket. Included in that list is the current world record of 172 which was made against Zimbabwe in 2018.
Aaron Finch has also retired, but in his case, he’s left behind all forms of the game. You can now hear him on commentary around the world, and he seems to have a long career behind the mic ahead of him.
I was surprised when Finch called it a day and I thought he had more to offer. I wouldn’t have included him on this list if I knew what was coming, but he was a brilliant batsman throughout his career, and one of the best in 2022.
10. Steve Smith
By his own very high standards, 2021 wasn’t the best year for Steve Smith. After averaging over 100 in the Ashes series of 2019, he failed to score a century in any of the first four tests against England in 2021/22.
However, it would be foolish to write him off. Form is temporary in this game but class is permanent and Smith has that class in abundance. He may not be the most elegant player to watch but he is highly effective.
He’ll be concentrating on test cricket from here on and, in the red ball format, Smith has 7757 runs at an average of 60.60 with no fewer than 27 hundreds and a best of 239.
Two years on from the original piece and Steve Smith continues to churn out the runs. He’s been one of the most prolific batters in world cricket for some time now, and if I were writing the article from scratch, he’d be at the top of the list.
He’s been a force for Australia in ODIs, but test cricket remains his speciality. As of October 2024, Smith has scored 9685 test runs in 109 matches, with 32 centuries, an average of 56.97 and a highest score of 239.
About the ICC Ratings
The ICC ratings can attract some criticism at times but they remain the best possible gauge by which to measure a player’s performance. The calculations are carried out by taking a player’s performances over their career. However, it wouldn’t make sense to rely too heavily on statistics from many years ago so their recent returns carry more weight.
In every game that they play, the batsman will be given marks out of 1000. Obviously, the amount of runs that they score will have a big influence but the ratings will also include factors such as conditions and the strength of the opposition.
It may not be a flawless procedure but it gives us an accurate measure of who the best players in the world are at a specific point in time. And, for the purposes of previews such as these, it also gives us clues as to who will be the most productive players in the twelve months that lie ahead.
Promising Batsmen
Who are the up and coming batsmen who will be looking for a place on this list at the start of 2023? As a keen follower of the English team, there’s not much to look forward to right now but one batter should be exciting to watch in 2022.
Liam Livingstone
At the start of 2022, only four English batsmen had scored hundreds in T20 international cricket. Liam Livingstone joined the list in 2021 with a brilliant 103 from just 43 balls against Pakistan.
The explosive Lancashire batter has gained some lucrative contracts in the IPL and elsewhere and this should be a year when he climbs the limited overs rankings.
Devon Conway
When he scored a brilliant double century on test debut in 2021, we thought that Devon Conway was perfect for the red ball game. He started 2022 brilliantly with two test centuries against Bangladesh but the left hander is also highly rated in limited overs cricket.
It’s going to be a really big year for Devon Conway who began 2022 in seventh place in the ICC rankings for T20 international cricket.
Other batsmen who I think you should look out for in 2022 include Shreyas Iyer, Rassie van der Dussen, Will Smeed, Mohammad Rizwan and Shimron Hetmyer. Let’s bring on the top class action across 2022 and we’ll see who makes it onto this list in twelve months’ time.
The conclusion above was also written in 2022. Some of the promising batters have kicked on while others have stalled. Each name has time to justify their mentions, while there are more to add.
The big development in English cricket has been the rise in Harry Brook who scored his country’s first test century since 1990 in the 2024 series against Pakistan. I’ve also been impressed by Pakistan’s Saud Shakeel who seems to go under the radar.
Elsewhere, India keep churning out dangerous batsmen, and I’m excited to watch Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav moving forward.
