Most Runs in ODI

One Day International (ODI) cricket, the oldest white-ball format of the game, has a rich history and is an integral part of this gentleman’s game. This format has given cricket some of the world’s best and legendary cricketers. One group of these cricketers are the batters.

In this space, we will talk about batters who reached the pinnacle of ODI batting during their respective illustrious career. These are the batters who churned out runs for fun, and even after the end of their careers, they still sit at the top of the run-scoring charts. Over the course, they have entertained the followers across the globe by scoring truckloads of runs.

Here are the batters with most ODI runs in history.

Most Runs in ODI Cricket

Key Insights on Leading Run Scorers in ODI Cricket

All-Time Individual Batting Milestones in ODIs

Sachin Tendulkar is the lead run-scorer in ODI cricket. He scored 18426 runs at an average of 44.83 in 452 innings for India.

Tendulkar has also faced the most balls in ODIs, having played 21368 deliveries in his career.

Virat Kohli became the first batter to smash 50 centuries in ODIs. He currently leads the century chart, with Tendulkar behind him with 49 hundreds. (Check Kohli’s career hundreds here.)

Tendulkar has brought up the most fifty-plus scores in this format, with 145 knocks to his name.

Tendulkar aggregated 15310 of his 18426 runs while opening for India. This is the most runs by an opener in ODIs.

Tendulkar run tally included a massive 2016 fours, the most by a batter in ODIs. Notably, no other batter has more than 1500 fours in ODIs.

Rohit Sharma and Shahid Afridi are the only two batters to smash more than 350 sixes in ODIs.

Tendulkar has scored the most ODI runs in a calendar year, having collected 1894 runs in 33 innings in 1998. His run tally also included nine centuries, the most by a batter in a year in ODIs.

Record-Breaking Individual Performances in ODIs

Rohit Sharma has smashed the highest individual score in ODIs, having brought up 264 runs from 173 balls against Sri Lanka in the 2014 Kolkata match.

Rohit is the only batter to score three double centuries in ODI cricket.

USA’s Milind Kumar and the Netherlands’ Ryan ten Doeschate are the only two batters with a 60-plus batting average in ODIs (minimum 20 innings).

West Indies’ Andre Russell has the highest batting strike rate in ODIs, having scored 1034 runs at 130.22 in 47 innings (minimum 500 balls faced).

Positional and Venue-Based Achievements in ODIs

Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal has scored the most runs at a single ground in ODIs. He aggregated 2897 runs in 85 innings at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.

Tendulkar and Kohli are the only two batters to accumulate 6000-plus runs each in home ODIs.

Ricky Ponting scored 8497 of his 13704 runs as Australia’s captain. This is the most runs by a captain in ODIs.

Kumar Sangakkara aggregated 13341 of his 14234 runs as a wicketkeeper for Sri Lanka. This is the most runs as a designated wicketkeeper-batter in ODIs.

MS Dhoni is the only other keeper-batter with 10000-plus runs, having scored all of his 10773 as a wicketkeeper.

Dominance Against Specific Opponents in ODIs

Tendulkar has aggregated the most ODI runs against an opponent team. He scored 3113 runs in 80 innings against Sri Lanka.

Tendulkar is the only batter with 3000-plus runs against two teams, with Australia being the other opponent, against whom he scored 3077 runs in 70 outings.

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