The legendary batsman, Sunil Gavaskar is often associated with a very famous and wise tenet, “convert ones into twos”, which he also uses frequently while commentating. Batting in cricket is a glorified art where the significance is laid on not only scoring runs but the manner of doing it as well. As the game has evolved over the past decade, the number of boundaries being scored per balls has also increased, largely thanks to the T20 format.

However, that hasn’t diminished the importance of the quick singles, converting a single to a double and an occasional third run. Indian cricket has seen the pairs of Sachin Tendulkar-Viredner Sehwag to MS Dhoni-Suresh Raina trouble the opposition and change matches by their quick running between the wickets, along with their exquisite boundary hitting. The batsman wouldn’t want the pressure to build on himself, nor his partner, hence quick rotation of strike is vital while batting.

Here we rank the top five fastest runners in International cricket currently :

5 Glenn Philips

The 26-year-old Kiwi all-rounder defies the laws of physics with his sensational fielding. Glenn Philips has taken some blinders in his short but massively impressive career so far. His athleticism also propel him to be quick between the wickets and the batter could often be seen stealing runs from the opposition team.

The Kiwi batter often converts singles into doubles, amazing the fans as well as the opposition team in the process. The ones who have been watching him for long however know how good of an athlete Philips is and it’s no surprise to them when the all-rounder is included in the list of fastest runners in international cricket today.

4 Glenn Maxwell

Often seen batting with a soiled jersey, Glenn Maxwell is one of the best when it comes to taking quick runs between the wickets. He does this so often that he has to dive multiple times while batting which earns him a jersey that is soiled at the front.

The Australian all-rounder however never gives the opposition even an inch and always wins the battle between the fielder and the batter. In 128 ODIs, 7 Tests and 98 T20Is, the Australian cricketer has made 3490, 339 and 2159 runs.

The 37-year-old continues to wow cricket fans with his incredible athleticism and is certainly one of the fastest runners between the wickets in international cricket.

3 Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja was bound to make it into the list of fastest runners in cricket, inevitably. Arguably, he is the fastest and the sharpest fielder in the world, and he does all that with a calm head. The left-hander is a productive batsman, an accurate bowler, and a gun fielder; he isn’t nicknamed ‘Sir’ for nothing.

He invariably scores above the average rating in the Yo-Yo test, a fitness test that is mandatory to pass for selection in the Indian team and hits the 19-point mark regularly in it. Last year Virat Kohli put up a tweet in which even the Indian captain is finding it difficult to outrun Jadeja.

The Saurashtra-born all-rounder has a bullet throw from the deep and almost never misses a catch. He has made an indelible mark at the point region and has a penchant of hitting the bulls-eye, even from an angle where he has only one stump to aim at. In between the wickets, the 31-year-old runs like a hare, a skill he has developed over the years, playing with the likes of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli.

2 David Warner

David Warner is one of the most attacking batsmen in world cricket and his lethality elevates as his innings progresses. Warner’s career can be divided into two halves; pre and post-one-year ban for his involvement in the ball-tampering saga.

There were changes in Warner’s demeanour post the one-year lay-off. From ‘The Bull’ to the ‘Hum-Bull’, as in humble; from an aggressive beast without a leash to a serene, polite lamb; from celebrating ‘in-your-face’ victories to taking graceful smiling defeats, Warner reformed, and he has also added some dancing moves to his resume during the lockdown.

But what didn’t change was his hunger for scoring runs. In fact, it just grew even larger – he was the second-leading run-scorer in the World Cup last year scoring 647 runs, just one run behind Rohit Sharma. Also, what didn’t change is his pace; his cheetah-esque running between the wickets and his quickness in the outfield.

Opening the innings – for Australia and for Sunrisers Hyderabad – the left-hander has shown that he has lost no speed while taking the quick singles in the powerplay. In December 2019, against Pakistan in Adelaide, Warner notched up his maiden Test triple hundred, scoring 335* runs while staying at the crease for 418 balls- which is a testament to his fitness and stamina. Out of the 335 runs, only 162 runs were scored in fours and sixes, the rest he ran and ran while running his partner’s runs too.

1 Virat Kohli

Arguably, the greatest white-ball player, Virat Kohli has set the standards very high, in batting as well as in the fitness department. He is one of the fittest athletes in the world and has been churning out hundreds without breaking a sweat.

Under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, the BCCI introduced the Yo-Yo test for the first time in Indian cricket. The score of 16.1 on the test is considered the cut-off for a selection to the national team, while Kohli clocks the mark of 19-21 on the Yo-Yo test on a regular basis.

In recent years, batting comparisons have been made between Kohli with Rohit Sharma in limited-overs cricket, as both players have been in tremendous form. However, what separates Kohli from Rohit – and the rest – is his ability to pick up a single and rotate the strike after scoring a boundary.

Kohli is 31, with over 11,000 ODI runs and 43 ODI centuries – closing in on the great Sachin Tendulkar, who himself was a totem of running quick between the wickets – he has accumulated all of it with an astute amalgamation of non-boundary runs with boundary runs.

His marvellous innings of 82* off 51 balls against Australia in the 2016 T20 World Cup epitomises his career; field-threading fours, splendidly timed sixes, and Bolt-like running- with MS Dhoni at the other end, making it memorable, now even more.