Batting superstar Virat Kohli entered his name in the record books on Sunday (January 11) by becoming the third batter in the world to score 28,000 runs in international cricket. The 37-year-old right-handed
batter from Delhi needed 25 runs in the ongoing first India-New Zealand ODI at BCA Stadium in Vadodara to join the 28,000 club, and he achieved the objective during the 13th over of India’s innings in the 301-run chase.
Kohli slammed Adithya Ashok for a four on the fifth ball of the 13th over to take his tally of runs to 28,001 in international cricket.
Most runs in international cricket
| Player | Country | Matches | Innings | Runs | Highest | Average | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 664 | 782 | 34,357 | 248* | 48.52 | 100 | 164 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | 594 | 666 | 28,016 | 319 | 46.77 | 63 | 153 |
| Virat Kohli | India | 557* | 624* | 28,001* | 254* | 52.58 | 84 | 145 |
| Ricky Ponting | Australia | 560 | 668 | 27,483 | 257 | 45.95 | 71 | 146 |
| Mahela Jayawardene | Sri Lanka | 652 | 725 | 25,957 | 374 | 39.15 | 54 | 136 |
| Jacques Kallis | South Africa | 519 | 617 | 25,534 | 224 | 49.10 | 62 | 149 |
| Rahul Dravid | India | 509 | 605 | 24,208 | 270 | 45.41 | 48 | 146 |
| Brian Lara | West Indies | 430 | 521 | 22,358 | 400* | 46.28 | 53 | 111 |
| Joe Root | England | 381 | 503 | 22,166 | 262 | 49.36 | 60 | 114 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka | 586 | 651 | 21,032 | 340 | 34.14 | 42 | 103 |
Kohli finished his Test career with 9230 runs in 123 matches and his T20I career with 4188 runs in 125 matches. In ODIs, he has scored 14,583* runs so far in 309 matches.
Virat Kohli’s record for India
| FORMAT | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS | 100/50s |
| Tests | 123 | 210 | 9230 | 30/31 |
| ODIs | 309* | 297* | 14,583* | 53/76 |
| T20Is | 125 | 117 | 4188 | 1/38 |
| Total | 557* | 624* | 28,001* | 84/145 |
Only two batters – Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara – are ahead of him in the list of batters with the most runs in international cricket.
If Kohli manages to score at least 42 runs in the ongoing match, then he will overtake Sangakkara’s tally of 28,016 runs and become the second-highest run-getter in international cricket.
Sangakkara played a total of 594 matches during his 15-year-long international career from 2000 to 2015 and amassed a total of 28,016 runs.
The world record for scoring the most runs in international cricket is in the name of Tendulkar. Tendulkar played a total of 664 matches for India from 1989 to 2013 and scored 34,357 runs. He played 200 Tests and scored 15,921 runs. In 463 ODIs, Tendulkar slammed 18,426 runs, and in his only T20I match against South Africa on December 1, 2006, he got out after scoring 10 runs from 12 balls.
If Kohli manages to score at least 94 runs in the ongoing match, then he will break Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 1750 runs and become the highest run getter in India-New Zealand ODIs. Tendulkar played 41 ODIs against the Black Caps and scored 1750 runs, whereas Kohli has 1683 runs to his name so far.
