A plethora of players have graced international cricket with their finesse in its rich history. The sport has witnessed three formats – Tests, ODIs and T20Is so far with a lot of batters showcasing some exceptional skills during their respective careers. Boundaries and sixes have generally entertained the fans, especially in the 21st century.
With the game-changing a lot in the last couple of decades after the emergence of T20 cricket, more maximums are being hit. Pitches have become flat and ground size has become smaller to make the game entertaining. Even if the ball hits the edge of the bat, it goes beyond the boundary for a six.
But when it comes to smashing a four, it is very important that the batsman times the ball really well, irrespective of the format. When it comes to Test cricket, timing the ball is crucial to smack a four. Be it Virat Kohli’s cover drive or Sachin Tendulkar’s straight drive, timing is crucial to play these and a lot of shots to make sure the ball hits the boundary cushions.
Similarly, a lot of batters have hit a lot of boundaries in their international career, and here we bring you the list of players with the most fours in international cricket.
Players with the Highest Fours in Cricket History
Let’s explore the list of the players with the highest fours in cricket history:
1. Sachin Tendulkar – 4076 fours
Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is on top of the list of leading boundary scorers in international cricket. He managed to hit as many as 4076 fours during his illustrious international career that spanned for a staggering 24 years from 1989 to 2013. The master blaster featured for India in a staggering 664 matches at the international level to smack more boundaries than any other batter in the world. He also is among the best players with most runs in ODI matches.
In 200 Test matches, Tendulkar amassed 15921 runs and ended up sending the ball to the boundary cushions a staggering 2058 times in his career. When it comes to the 50-over format, the opening batter featured in 463 matches for his country, thumping a boundary 2016 times. He played only a solitary T20I for India back in 2006 and smacked two boundaries on his way to 10 runs.
The man has a lot of records to his name at the highest level and even this record is unlikely to be broken as the closest active player to him is Virat Kohli who is still far away.
2. Kumar Sangakkara – 3015 fours
Arguably the most elegant left-hander to grace this beautiful game, Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka is among the list of Players with the highest fours in cricket history. Interestingly, he played for three teams in his international career – Asia XI, ICC XI and Sri Lanka- and ended up playing a staggering 594 matches to hit 315 fours, which was the second most at this level. Sangakkara turned up for Sri Lanka from 2000 to 2015, and such was his impact that the team has yet to find a permanent replacement for him.
For the majority of his career, the southpaw featured in Tests and ODIs for his country. However, Sanga evolved his game with the emergence of T20 cricket as well. In 56 matches in the shortest format, he smashed 139 boundaries scoring a total of 1382 runs at an average of 31.4.
In 134 Test matches, he played for Sri Lanka, Sangakkara smacked 1491 boundaries on his way to amassing 12400 runs with 38 centuries and 52 centuries in his career. In the 50-over format, the left-handed batter notched up 1385 boundaries down the ground to score 14234 runs which is a huge effort.
3. Ricky Ponting – 2781 fours
Ricky Ponting was the captain of Australia in the first decade of the 21st century when they won the World Cups for fun. During that period, Ponting dominated immensely with the bat as well, notably, hitting a lot of fours. For the same reason, he is among the Top players with most boundaries in cricket history. He also played for ICC XI in his career apart from his country to feature in a total of 560 matches in a career that spanned from 1995 to 2012.
He managed to thump the ball to the boundary on 2781 occasions while featuring in 560 matches across formats. Ponting loved to wear the whites and, accordingly, has hit the most fours – 1509 of them – in the longest format itself in 168 appearances for Australia. In 375 ODIs, the man amassed 13704 runs while sending the ball past the boundary 1231 times in his illustrious career.
Like a lot of legendary players do, Ponting also adapted to the T20 format to turn up for Australia in 17 matches as he managed 401 runs while scoring 164 of them in fours.
4. Virat Kohli – 2691 fours
The only active player in the list of most fours in international cricket, Virat Kohli is bound to play for a few more years and is set to finish with a lot more boundaries than 2691 in his illustrious career. The man made his debut for India back in 2008 after leading his country to the World Cup trophy at the U19 level.
Since then, he hasn’t looked back, scaling new highs for his country every now and then. He has played a staggering 539 matches for India across formats and, in 603 innings, has amassed 27239 runs at a brilliant average of 52.89 with a massive 81 centuries to his name.
In fact, in the ODIs, Kohli has smacked 50 centuries, making a record for any player in the world. As far as fours are concerned, the former India skipper recently crossed the 1000 mark in Tests in this aspect while he has sent the ball to the boundary line 1302 times in ODIs.
He played 125 T20Is in his career and managed to smack 369 fours overall. It remains to be seen if Kohli will be able to cross the 3000-mark and get closer to Kumar Sangakkara. Among the gods of IPL cricket, Kohli’s ODI record is as compelling as his T20 record, and he will likely finish among the top bracket of players to grace the game by the end of his career.
5. Mahela Jayawardene – 2679 fours
If you end up playing international cricket for almost two decades, you are bound to be a special player. Mahela Jayawardene was one such cricketer who graced the sport with finesse from 1997 to 2015 to craft a massive 2679 shots to the boundary, which is a record for most fours in international matches.
He turned up in 652 matches for Sri Lanka and amassed 25957 runs at the highest level scoring 54 tons and 136 fifties. Jayawardene loved to bat long in red-ball cricket and he did so most of the time, sending the ball past the boundary line 1387 times. In the 50-over format, Jayawardene played a staggering 448 matches for Sri Lanka and Asia XI combined, and amassed 12650 runs.
Among them, almost 33% of runs, 4476 runs to be precise, came in boundaries even as the legendary cricketer managed to hit 76 sixes as well. In the shortest format, he scored runs at a strike rate of 133.18, sending the ball beyond the boundary with grounded shots 173 times before hanging his boots.
6. Rahul Dravid – 2604 fours
Rahul Dravid was known for his excellent defensive technique throughout his career but the man played some crafty and pleasing to the eye shots as well leaving the fans and experts in his awe. Dravid played international cricket for three teams – India, Asia XI and ICC XI. Overall, he featured in 509 matches amassing 24208 runs at an average of 45.41.
Even though the former India cricketer could smash only 66 sixes, Dravid managed to hit 2604 fours in his career, the sixth most for any player in the world. In 164 appearances in the longest format of the game, India’s Wall scored 13288 runs, and among them, 6616 runs came via boundaries. He was mostly labelled as the defensive player and wasn’t backed in ODIs much.
But then Dravid ended up smacking 950 boundaries in his career in the format while amassing 10889 runs in 344 matches. Interestingly, he didn’t score a single boundary in the only T20I he played and finished with three maximums.
7. Brian Lara – 2601 fours
Brian Lara is also among the players with the highest number of fours in cricket across formats. One of the most elegant left-handers to ever grace the game, Lara played 430 matches for ICC XI and the West Indies, scoring 22358 runs with a staggering 2601 shots to the boundary through grounded shots.
He played 131 Tests and 299 ODIs and ended up smashing 1559 and 1042 boundaries in the two formats, respectively. Lara is still one of the best players produced by the Caribbeans, thanks to his exceptional skills. He still holds the record for the highest individual score in Test cricket, having smashed an unbeaten 400.
8. Sanath Jayasuriya – 2486 fours
Sanath Jayasuriya is currently Sri Lanka’s head coach and is in great form in this role, just like he was an opener during his playing days. The southpaw changed the approach of world cricket when it came to batting in the powerplay overs during the 1996 World Cup. After playing for Asia XI and Sri Lanka over the course of 22 years, Jayasuriya featured in 586 international matches.
He smashed 2486 fours in his career at the highest level and is still among the leading boundary scorers in international cricket. The left-hander played 110 Test matches for his country and sent the red-cherry to the boundary on 910 occasions. He featured in a massive 445 One-Day Internationals to score 13430 runs, out of which 6000 came via the grounded shots that reached the boundary. In 31 T20Is that Jayasuriya played, he managed to slam 76 boundaries.
9. Jacques Kallis – 2455 fours
South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis is also amongst the players with highest fours in cricket history. He played for the Proteas for almost two decades and ended up turning up 519 matches for them while amassing more than 25000 runs and hitting 2455 boundaries. In his international career, Kallis mostly played Tests and ODIs in his career before the shortest format changed the face of the sport.
He was featured in 166 Tests, 328 ODIs, and only 25 T20Is, amassing massive scores at will. Kallis managed to smack the ball to the boundary in the longest format 1488 times, even as the number came down to 911 in the 50-over form of the sport. In the shortest format, Kallis scored 56 fours, taking his tally to 2455 overall before stepping away from the game.
10. Virender Sehwag – 2408 fours
Virender Sehwag is one of the very few players who played Test cricket like T20. The opening batter played for Asia XI, ICC XI and India in 374 matches of his career and even then managed to be among the top players with most boundaries in cricket. More often than not, he used to be in trends due to his six-hitting skills.
However, Sehwag smashed a staggering 2408 boundaries in his career as well to be at the 10th place in the list of most fours in international cricket. He played 104 Tests, 251 ODIs and 19 T20Is at the highest level to smack 1233, 1132 and 43 fours respectively.
FAQs
Sachin Tendulkar hit more than 4000 boundaries at the highest level after playing 664 matches.
Rohit Sharma has hit the most sixes at the international level. He has hit 624 maximums in 488 matches of his career so far.
Rohit Sharma has managed to hit 1865 fours in his career so far.
Sachin Tendulkar has scored the most runs in international cricket. He amassed a massive 34357 runs in his career that spanned from 1989 to 2013.
Virat Kohli is an active player who plays most matches at the highest level. He has so far featured in 539 matches across formats for India.
What is the Strike Rate in Cricket? Meaning, Calculation & Importance
Breaking Records: Meet the Fastest Bowler in the World