Sachin Tendulkar has scored the most runs in ODI history. The Indian batsman amassed 18426 runs in a total of 452 innings at an excellent average of 44.83 before calling time on his career in 2012. He made his international debut for India at the age of 16 in 1989 and played in a total […]
Sachin Tendulkar has scored the most runs in ODI history. The Indian batsman amassed 18426 runs in a total of 452 innings at an excellent average of 44.83 before calling time on his career in 2012. He made his international debut for India at the age of 16 in 1989 and played in a total six World Cups. After missing out on the highly coveted trophy five consecutive times, he finally laid his hands on it when India won the World Cup in 2011 at home.
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Tendulkar was also the first man to score a double century in ODI history and that sums up his greatness as a batsman to a large extent. He scored 49 centuries during his ODI career spanning 23 years as well.
| Pos | Player | Team | Span | Inns | Runs | HS | Ave | SR |
| 1 | Sachin Tendulkar | India | 1989-2012 | 452 | 18426 | 200* | 44.83 | 86.23 |
| 2 | Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | 2000-2015 | 380 | 14234 | 169 | 41.98 | 78.86 |
| 3 | Ricky Ponting | Australia | 1995-2012 | 365 | 13704 | 164 | 42.03 | 80.39 |
| 4 | Sanath Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka | 1989-2011 | 433 | 13430 | 189 | 32.36 | 91.2 |
| 5 | Mahela Jayawardene | Sri Lanka | 1998-2015 | 418 | 12650 | 144 | 33.37 | 78.96 |
| 6 | Virat Kohli | India | 2008-2020 | 236 | 11867 | 183 | 59.85 | 93.39 |
| 7 | Inzamam-ul-Haq | Pakistan | 1991-2007 | 350 | 11739 | 137* | 39.52 | 74.24 |
| 8 | Jacques Kallis | South Africa | 1996-2014 | 314 | 11579 | 139 | 44.36 | 72.89 |
| 9 | Saurav Ganguly | India | 1992-2007 | 300 | 11363 | 183 | 41.02 | 73.7 |
| 10 | Rahul Dravid | India | 1996-2011 | 318 | 10889 | 153 | 39.16 | 71.24 |
Table: List of players with most career runs in ODI history
There is nobody who has come close to his total tally of ODI runs yet. Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara is the second in the list with 14234 runs to his name followed by Ricky Ponting (13704), Sanath Jayasuriya (13430) and Mahela Jayawardene (12650) at third, fourth and fifth respectively.
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Present Indian skipper Virat Kohli is the only active player who features in the top 10 for most runs in ODI history. He is currently sitting at the sixth position with 11867 runs to his name at an outstanding average of 59.85. He has a good seven to eight years of cricket still left in him if his fitness is anything to go by. So, if he maintains his consistency, he might well go on to surpass Tendulkar’s record for most runs in ODI history.
