With the game getting more favor to the batsmen nowadays, the fastest in cricket records never feels like a safe bet.
This article will list the fastest five batsmen in ODI cricket to reach every 1000x runs, i.e., the quickest to 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000, 8000, & 9000 runs in ODI in terms of innings batted.
Fastest to 1000 Runs in ODI
Having the right start to one’s cricket career will set the perfect base for a great journey. Being the fastest to 1000 runs in ODI has always been challenging. The great Sir Vivian Richards set the base in 1975 when he reached 1000 ODI runs in his 21st Innings.
The feat was later equalled by 4 other batsmen – Quentin De Kock, Kevin Peterson, Jonathan Trott and Babar Azam. These batsmen reached the tally of 1000 ODI runs in their 21st innings.
And then, the record was bettered twice by two Pakistani batsmen – Fakhar Zaman (18 Innings) and Imam-ul-Haq (19 Innings). Shubman Gill also reached his 1000-runs mark at 19 innings.
| BATSMAN | INNINGS TO 1000 RUNS | TIME TAKEN |
|---|---|---|
| Fakhar Zaman (PAK) | 18 | 1Y 45D |
| Imam-Ul-Haq (PAK) | 19 | 1Y 99D |
| Shubman Gill (IND) | 19 | 3Y 352D |
| Viv Richards (WI) | 21 | 4Y 229D |
| Kevin Pietersen (ENG) | 21 | 1Y 123D |
| Jonathan Trott (ENG) | 21 | 1Y 187D |
| Quinton de Kock (SA) | 21 | 1Y 212D |
| Babar Azam (PAK) | 21 | 1Y 223D |
| Van der Dussen (SA) | 21 | 2Y 226D |
| Aqib Ilyas (OMA) | 22 | 4Y 67D |
Fastest to 2000 Runs in ODI
A new topper arises from the 2000 level; the South African opening batsman, Hashim Amla, who took 24 innings to reach the 1000 runs mark, reached the second 1000 runs in his career in his next 16 innings.
He was then bettered by Shubman Gill, who needed only 38 innings to reach the two-thousand runs marks in One-day Internationals.
Also, we see three batters from the previous table, including the modern-day Pakistani trio – Babar, Fakhar, and Imam, in this top ten.
| BATSMAN | INNINGS TO 2000 RUNS | TIME TAKEN |
|---|---|---|
| Shubman Gill (IND) | 38 | 4y 264d |
| Hashim Amla (SA) | 40 | 2Y 318D |
| Zaheer Abbas (PAK) | 45 | 9Y 32D |
| Kevin Pietersen (ENG) | 45 | 2Y 144D |
| Babar Azam (PAK) | 45 | 3Y 108D |
| Imam-ul-Haq (PAK) | 46 | 3Y 268D |
| Jonathan Trott (ENG) | 47 | 2Y 315D |
| Shai Hope (WI) | 47 | 2Y 172D |
| Viv Richards (WI) | 48 | 8Y 8D |
| Shikhar Dhawan (IND) | 48 | 4Y 20D |
Fastest to 3000 Runs in ODI
Hashim Amla, once again, lived up to his rank to hold on to his topper reputation in the 3rd 1000 runs in ODI too. The shift from 2000 to 3000 runs milestones took him 17 innings, as he rules the chart.
Also, from Pakistan, Fakhar and Babar continues to impress.
| BATSMAN | INNINGS TO 3000 RUNS | TIME TAKEN |
|---|---|---|
| Hashim Amla (SA) | 57 | 4Y 172D |
| Shai Hope (WI) | 67 | 3Y 36D |
| Fakhar Zaman (PAK) | 67 | 5Y 326D |
| Imam-ul-Haq (PAK) | 67 | 5y 357D |
| Babar Azam (PAK) | 68 | 4Y 26D |
| Viv Richards (WI) | 69 | 8Y 359D |
| Gordon Greenidge (WI) | 72 | 11Y 128D |
| Gary Kirsten (SA) | 72 | 3Y 357D |
| Shikhar Dhawan (IND) | 72 | 5Y 92D |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 72 | 3Y 234D |
Fastest to 4000 Runs in ODI
Once again, the South African opener tops the chart for the fastest to 4000 ODI runs. Babar Azam came real close to this milestone but fell short by an innings.
The modern-day great, Virat Kohli appears first time in the top ten quickest list.
| BATSMAN | INNINGS TO 4000 RUNS | TIME TAKEN |
|---|---|---|
| Hashim Amla (SA) | 81 | 5Y 274D |
| Babar Azam (PAK) | 82 | 6Y 302D |
| Shai Hope (WI) | 88 | 5Y 204D |
| Viv Richards (WI) | 88 | 9Y 311D |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 91 | 4Y 261D |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 93 | 4Y 154D |
| David Warner (AUS) | 93 | 8Y 138D |
| Quinton de Kock (SA) | 94 | 5Y 201D |
| Shikhar Dhawan (IND) | 95 | 7Y 58D |
| Gordon Greenidge (WI) | 96 | 12Y 345D |
| Kane Williamson (NZ) | 96 | 6Y 138D |
Fastest to 5000 Runs in ODI
Virat Kohli made a clear jump to the top five list by moving from 4000 to 5000 runs in ODI in just 21 innings. His career made a big jump in this phase of his career in 2013. You can find the growth of Virat Kohli, year by year, format-wise, in this article.
| BATSMAN | INNINGS TO 5000 RUNS | TIME TAKEN |
|---|---|---|
| Babar Azam (PAK) | 97 | 7y 339d |
| Hashim Amla (SA) | 101 | 6Y 313D |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 114 | 5Y 95D |
| Shai Hope (WI) | 114 | 7y 17d |
| Viv Richards (WI) | 114 | 11Y 237D |
| David Warner (AUS) | 115 | 10Y 361D |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 116 | 6Y 40D |
| Quinton de Kock (SA) | 116 | 7Y 16D |
| Brian Lara (WI) | 118 | 6Y 359D |
| Shikhar Dhawan (IND) | 118 | 8Y 95D |
Fastest to 6000 Runs in ODI
Kane Williamson is the winner here, as the promising talent from New Zealand took only 20 innings to move from 5000 to 6000 ODI runs, whereas Virat and Amla had taken 22 innings for the same.
| BATSMAN | INNINGS TO 6000 RUNS | TIME TAKEN |
|---|---|---|
| Hashim Amla (SA) | 123 | 7Y 230D |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 136 | 6Y 83D |
| Kane Williamson (NZ) | 139 | 8Y 323D |
| Davis Warner (AUS) | 139 | 13Y 308D |
| Shikhar Dhawan (IND) | 140 | 10Y 271D |
| Viv Richards (WI) | 141 | 13Y 214D |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 141 | 8Y 169D |
| Sourav Ganguly (IND) | 147 | 8Y 289D |
| AB de Villiers (SA) | 147 | 8Y 282D |
| Michael Hayden (AUS) | 154 | 14Y 288D |
Fastest to 7000 Runs in ODI
This chart shows a clear jump from two modern-day greats, Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers, for they took only 19 innings for the transition from 6000 to 7000 ODI runs milestone. But, again, Amla and Virat share the limelight for being the top two at this juncture.
| BATSMAN | INNINGS TO 7000 RUNS | TIME TAKEN |
|---|---|---|
| Hashim Amla (SA) | 150 | 9Y 81D |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 161 | 7Y 152D |
| AB de Villiers (SA) | 166 | 9Y 285D |
| Sourav Ganguly (IND) | 174 | 9Y 186D |
| Rohit Sharma (IND) | 181 | 11Y 92D |
| Brian Lara (WI) | 183 | 10Y 178D |
| Martin Guptill (NZ) | 186 | 13Y 84D |
| Desmond Haynes (WI) | 187 | 13Y 295D |
| Jacques Kallis (SA) | 188 | 8Y 224D |
| Ross Taylor (NZ) | 188 | 11Y 361D |
Fastest to 8000 Runs in ODI
Finally, the long chase of Virat Kohli succeeded as he overtook his South African counterpart to win the podium position by being faster by 1 innings. Virat only needed 14 innings for 7000 to 8000, clearly the best phase of his career. ABD took 16 innings, whereas Rohit moved 8000 in 19.
| BATSMAN | INNINGS TO 8000 RUNS | TIME TAKEN |
|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 175 | 8Y 301D |
| Hashim Amla (SA) | 176 | 11Y 102D |
| AB de Villiers (SA) | 182 | 10Y 205D |
| Sourav Ganguly (IND) | 200 | 10Y 302D |
| Rohit Sharma (IND) | 200 | 11Y 263D |
| Ross Taylor (NZ) | 203 | 12Y 356D |
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 210 | 9Y 172D |
| Brian Lara (WI) | 211 | 12Y 204D |
| MS Dhoni (IND) | 214 | 9Y 39D |
| Saeed Anwar (PAK) | 218 | 12Y 102D |
Fastest to 9000 Runs in ODI
Virat’s dream run continues as he moved from 8000 to 9000 in 19 innings and kept his No. 1 position. Although, Rohit Sharma, the ODI monster, needed only 17. Find out Rohit’s ODI career graph – his rise in ODI batting numbers year by year, in this blog.
| BATSMAN | INNINGS TO 9000 RUNS | TIME TAKEN |
|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 194 | 9Y 72D |
| AB de Villiers (SA) | 205 | 12Y 23D |
| Rohit Sharma (IND) | 217 | 12Y 210D |
| Sourav Ganguly (IND) | 228 | 11Y 363D |
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 235 | 10Y 92D |
| Brian Lara (WI) | 239 | 14Y 66D |
| Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 242 | 11Y 18D |
| Jacques Kallis (SA) | 242 | 11Y 98D |
| MS Dhoni (IND) | 244 | 11Y 305D |
| Mohammad Yousuf (PAK) | 245 | 10Y 14D |
The Wrap
You can find the top ten fastest and slowest batsmen to reach 10000 runs in ODI in this 10K-special article.
Like I started this blog, with the batting in cricket becoming much easier, the above records are never going to stay put, and we will be there to provide you with the updates here and then.
