Who Has Scored the Most Runs in ODI Cricket?

Sachin Tendulkar holds the men’s ODI career record with 18,426 runs, scored in 452 innings between 1989 and 2012. Virat Kohli is second with 14,941 runs as of 25 September 2026, leaving him 3,485 short of Tendulkar’s total. Kumar Sangakkara is third with 14,234.

The ICC lists Tendulkar as the leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs. His 18,426 is a career aggregate: the sum of every run he scored in recognized men’s ODIs, rather than an average or a single-innings score.

Choose two leading batters to compare their runs, innings, averages and hundreds.

Men’s ODI Career Leaders Through 25 September 2026

The first table ranks the ten leading men’s ODI run-scorers by career aggregate. A player’s batting average does not determine his position: the ordering is based only on total runs.

Rank	Batter	Runs	Average
1	Sachin Tendulkar	18,426	44.83
2	Virat Kohli	14,941	58.59
3	Kumar Sangakkara	14,234	41.98
4	Ricky Ponting	13,704	42.03
5	Sanath Jayasuriya	13,430	32.36
6	Mahela Jayawardene	12,650	33.37
7	Rohit Sharma	11,895	48.95
8	Inzamam-ul-Haq	11,739	39.52
9	Jacques Kallis	11,579	44.36
10	Sourav Ganguly	11,363	41.02

The figures and ordering come from ESPNcricinfo’s live men’s ODI career-runs record and match the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians table. The ICC’s current Kohli player record also gives him 14,941 runs and an average of 58.59.

Tendulkar’s lead is substantial, but the positions immediately below him are closer. Kohli moved ahead of Sangakkara in 2025 and now leads him by 707 runs. Sangakkara remains ahead of Ricky Ponting, while Ponting’s 13,704 places him above Sanath Jayasuriya’s 13,430.

Mahela Jayawardene is sixth with 12,650. Rohit Sharma occupies seventh on 11,895, followed by Inzamam-ul-Haq on 11,739, Jacques Kallis on 11,579 and Sourav Ganguly on 11,363.

Innings And Centuries Add Context To The Totals

Career runs reflect both scoring rate and the number of opportunities a player had. The innings and century columns show that the same aggregate can be approached through different career patterns.

Batter	Innings	100s	Span
Sachin Tendulkar	452	49	1989–2012
Virat Kohli	302	54	2008–2026
Kumar Sangakkara	380	25	2000–2015
Ricky Ponting	365	30	1995–2012
Sanath Jayasuriya	433	28	1989–2011
Mahela Jayawardene	418	19	1998–2015
Rohit Sharma	280	34	2007–2026
Inzamam-ul-Haq	350	10	1991–2007
Jacques Kallis	314	17	1996–2014
Sourav Ganguly	300	22	1992–2007

Tendulkar accumulated his record across 452 innings, the most among these ten players. Jayasuriya had 433 innings and Jayawardene 418. At the other end of the table, Rohit’s 11,895 came in 280 innings, the fewest among the listed players.

Kohli has scored 54 ODI hundreds in 302 innings. That is more hundreds than Tendulkar’s 49, even though Tendulkar played 150 more innings. Rohit has 34 hundreds, the third-highest century total in this top ten, despite ranking seventh by career runs.

Those century counts do not change the career-runs ordering. A hundred is a milestone within an innings, while the career aggregate counts every run, including runs made in scores below 100.

The span column identifies the years covered by each player’s recognized ODI record in this table. It should not be read as a count of seasons played: the number of innings gives a more direct measure of the batting opportunities included in the aggregate.

Composite-Team ODIs Count Toward The Career Aggregate

Several players represented a national team and one or more composite sides in recognized ODIs. The runs from those appearances remain part of the player’s official ODI career total.

Batter	Team Or Teams
Sachin Tendulkar	India
Virat Kohli	India
Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka, Asia, ICC
Ricky Ponting	Australia, ICC
Sanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka, Asia
Mahela Jayawardene	Sri Lanka, Asia
Rohit Sharma	India
Inzamam-ul-Haq	Pakistan, Asia
Jacques Kallis	South Africa, Africa, ICC
Sourav Ganguly	India, Asia

“Team(s)” therefore includes recognized ODI appearances for composite sides such as Asia XI, Africa XI and ICC World XI where applicable. Sangakkara’s 14,234, for example, is listed against Sri Lanka, Asia and ICC rather than Sri Lanka alone. Ponting’s entry covers Australia and ICC, while Kallis’s covers South Africa, Africa and ICC.

This treatment does not combine formats. Only runs from matches recognized as ODIs belong in the ODI aggregate. Test and Twenty20 International runs are recorded separately.

Tendulkar’s 18,426 Is An Aggregate, Not An Average

Career runs are calculated by adding every run a batter scored in recognized ODIs. The total is not divided by matches, innings or dismissals. It consequently rewards sustained scoring across the full length of a career.

Batting average answers a different question. It measures runs per dismissal, not runs per innings. The formula is career runs divided by the number of times the batter was dismissed.

Tendulkar scored 18,426 runs in 452 innings and had 41 not-outs. He was therefore dismissed 411 times. His calculation is: 18,426 ÷ (452 innings − 41 not-outs) = 44.83.

Kohli’s 14,941 runs came in 302 innings with 47 not-outs. He was dismissed 255 times. His calculation is: 14,941 ÷ (302 innings − 47 not-outs) = 58.59.

Kohli consequently has the higher batting average, 58.59 to Tendulkar’s 44.83, but Tendulkar remains the career-runs leader. The two measures can produce different leaders because one measures accumulated output and the other measures output per dismissal.

Kohli is 3,485 runs behind Tendulkar’s aggregate. Matching 18,426 would leave the two totals level; he needs 3,486 additional runs to move beyond the record.

The same distinction applies farther down the ranking. Rohit’s 48.95 average is higher than the averages of several batters above him, including Sangakkara, Ponting, Jayasuriya and Jayawardene. His 11,895 career runs nevertheless place him seventh because the table is ordered by aggregate runs, not average.

Kallis offers another useful comparison. His average of 44.36 is close to Tendulkar’s 44.83, but Kallis scored 11,579 runs in 314 innings. Tendulkar’s much larger aggregate was built across 452 innings.

A not-out also changes the average calculation without adding another dismissal. That is why dividing career runs by innings would not reproduce the published batting averages. For Kohli, the relevant denominator is 255 dismissals rather than 302 innings; for Tendulkar, it is 411 rather than 452.

“Most runs” and “best average” should therefore not be used interchangeably. The career-runs record identifies the batter who accumulated the most ODI runs. The average identifies how many runs a batter made per dismissal. This distinction also matters when reading the men’s Test career-runs table.

The Career Record Is Not The Highest Individual Score

The phrase “highest ODI runs” can also be used when searching for the largest score in one innings. That is a separate record from the career aggregate.

Rohit Sharma’s 264 against Sri Lanka in November 2014 remains the highest individual score in men’s ODIs, according to the ICC’s review of his ODI records. The 264 represents the runs he scored in that single innings.

Tendulkar’s highest ODI innings was 200 not out. His record 18,426 is not an innings score; it is the sum of the runs from his complete ODI career. Rohit’s 264 and Tendulkar’s 18,426 therefore belong to different statistical categories and are not competing versions of the same record.

The distinction also explains why Rohit appears seventh in the career table despite holding the single-innings record. A player’s highest score contributes to his career aggregate, but career rank depends on all his recognized ODI innings combined.

Mithali Raj Holds The Women’s ODI Career Record

Mithali Raj holds the women’s ODI career record with 7,805 runs in 232 matches. The current women’s ODI career table places her first and records 211 innings, 57 not-outs and an average of 50.68.

The ICC’s summary of Raj’s records also identifies her as the leading women’s ODI run-scorer. Her batting average follows the same runs-per-dismissal method used in the men’s records. With 211 innings and 57 not-outs, her 7,805 runs are divided by 154 dismissals to produce 50.68.

Men’s and women’s ODIs have separate record tables. Tendulkar’s 18,426 is the benchmark for the men’s game, while Raj’s 7,805 is the relevant career benchmark for women’s ODIs. Presenting the records separately preserves the categories used by the official statistical tables rather than treating the two leaderboards as one combined ranking.