You’ve probably seen the lists. The names are familiar: Tendulkar, Kohli, Sangakkara. But when we talk about the highest run scorer in odi history, we aren't just looking at a number on a scoreboard. We're looking at a mountain that took twenty-four years to build.
Sachin Tendulkar sits at the top with 18,426 runs. Honestly, that number is staggering. It’s not just about the volume; it’s about the fact that he did it across eras where the rules were basically designed to make life miserable for batters. One ball for 50 overs. Massive outfields. No T20-inspired "power-hitting" to lean on.
People love to debate if Virat Kohli will catch him. As of early 2026, Kohli has climbed to 14,673 runs. He’s closing in, but the gap is still a whole career’s worth of runs for a "normal" player. Kohli is 37 now. He’s still the No. 1 ranked ODI batter in the world—a spot he reclaimed just this month after a vintage 93 against New Zealand in Vadodara—but even for a fitness freak like him, 4,000 runs is a long road.
The Mount Everest of Cricket: Breaking Down the Top 5
Most people think the list of top scorers is just about longevity. It's not. It's about surviving. To get into the top five, you have to play through injuries, form slumps, and the evolution of the game itself.
Sachin Tendulkar (India): 18,426 runs.
The "Master Blaster" played 463 matches. He has 49 centuries and 96 fifties. If you averaged his runs per year, he’d still be better than most openers today. He was the first to hit a double century in ODIs, a feat many thought was impossible until 2010.Virat Kohli (India): 14,673 runs.
Kohli is the "Chase Master." His average is a ridiculous 58.45. Compare that to Sachin’s 44.83. Modern bats and smaller boundaries help, sure, but Kohli’s consistency is basically a glitch in the matrix. He recently broke the record for the fastest to 28,000 international runs across all formats, doing it in 624 innings.Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka): 14,234 runs.
The most elegant left-hander you’ll ever see. Sangakkara wasn't just a batter; he kept wickets for a huge chunk of his 404 matches. To score over 14k runs while squatting for 50 overs in the heat is just... inhuman.Ricky Ponting (Australia): 13,704 runs.
"Punter" was the engine room of the greatest Australian team ever. He wasn't there to just accumulate; he was there to hurt the opposition. His 140* in the 2003 World Cup final remains one of the most brutal innings in the format’s history.Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka): 13,430 runs.
He changed the game in 1996. Before him, the first 15 overs were for "settling in." Jayasuriya decided they were for carnage. He has over 300 wickets too, making him the only person on this list who could legitimately be called a frontline bowler.
Why Sachin's 18,426 is a Different Beast
Let’s get real for a second. Comparing eras in cricket is kinda like comparing a rotary phone to an iPhone.
Back in the 90s, when Sachin was piling up runs, the ball stayed soft and turned more. Reverse swing was a nightmare. Today, with two new balls and field restrictions, the highest run scorer in odi rankings are skewed toward the modern era. Yet, Sachin still leads by nearly 4,000 runs.
Think about that.
To pass Sachin, a player needs to score 1,000 runs a year for 19 years straight. Most careers don't even last ten. Even Rohit Sharma, who has three double-hundreds and 11,542 runs, is unlikely to reach the summit because time is simply running out.
The Metrics That Actually Matter
If we only look at total runs, we miss the "how."
- Average: Kohli wins here. A 58+ average after 300+ games is unheard of.
- Strike Rate: In the top ten, Rohit Sharma and Sanath Jayasuriya are the ones who moved the needle, both striking around 90.
- Hundreds: Kohli has already passed Sachin's 49 centuries (he’s currently at 53). But Sachin has nearly double the half-centuries.
There's a specific nuance to how Kumar Sangakkara played that people forget. He finished his career with four consecutive centuries in the 2015 World Cup. He was 37. It shows that the highest run scorer in odi title isn't just for the young and explosive; it's for those who can adapt their technique as their reflexes slow down.
Is the 18,000-Run Mark Even Possible Anymore?
Honestly? Probably not.
The game is changing. More players are retiring early from ODIs to focus on T20 leagues or Test matches. The "50-over specialist" is a dying breed. Ben Stokes famously retired and then un-retired; others might just stay retired.
Younger stars like Shubman Gill have the talent. Gill reaches milestones faster than almost anyone in history. But will he play 400 matches? In the age of the IPL and a packed calendar, the physical toll is massive. Most experts, including former greats like Wasim Akram, have noted that the sheer volume of cricket today makes Sachin’s longevity look like a relic from a different world.
What Most Fans Get Wrong About the Rankings
You’ll often hear that modern players are "better" because they score faster. That’s a bit of a trap.
In the 80s and 90s, a score of 250 was a winning total. Today, 300 is barely par. If you’re chasing 350 every second game, your "runs per innings" will naturally be higher. This is why era-adjusted stats are becoming so popular among data nerds. When you adjust for the scoring rates of the time, Viv Richards (who didn't even make the top 10 for total runs) often ranks as the greatest ODI batter ever.
But "greatest" and "highest scorer" are different things. The latter is a testament to showing up, day after day, for two decades. It’s about not getting dropped when you’re 34 and having a bad month.
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Actionable Next Steps for Cricket Fans
If you want to truly understand the greatness of the highest run scorer in odi history, don't just look at the aggregate. Do these three things to get a better perspective:
- Watch 1990s highlights: Look at the boundary sizes and the quality of the bowling (Akram, McGrath, Ambrose). It puts Sachin's 18k runs into a whole new light.
- Track the "Innings per Century" ratio: This is where Kohli separates himself. He scores a hundred roughly every 5.6 innings. No one else is even close.
- Check the away vs. home split: A true legend scores everywhere. Look for players who have a balanced average in the "SENA" countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) versus the subcontinent.
The record for the most runs in ODIs is more than a statistic. It is a map of cricket's evolution. Whether Kohli ever passes 18,426 or not, the journey to that number has defined the modern game.