Virat Kohli reached 15,000 ODI runs on Sunday, September 27, 2026, during India’s first ODI against West Indies at Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. He became only the second batter in the history of the format to achieve the landmark, joining Sachin Tendulkar.
Kohli arrived at his innings needing 59 runs to complete the milestone. He crossed it in the 29th over, hitting two successive boundaries off Alzarri Joseph to bring up the landmark. India are chasing a 296-run target in the match.
Kohli reached the milestone in his 315th ODI. He now stands at least 766 runs clear of Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka great who occupies third place on the all-time ODI runs list.
How does Kohli’s route to 15,000 compare with Tendulkar’s?
Tendulkar, who finished his ODI career with 18,426 runs across 463 appearances, reached the 15,000-run mark when he was 34 years and 66 days old. He needed 377 innings and 6,402 days from his debut to get there.
Kohli completed the same landmark in 303 innings, having spent 6,614 days in international cricket since his own debut. He was 37 years and 326 days old at the time. While Kohli required more calendar days than Tendulkar, he consumed considerably fewer deliveries along the way, facing 15,950 balls compared to Tendulkar’s 17,528.
That difference in balls faced reflects a higher scoring rate across Kohli’s ODI career, even though he arrived at the 15,000-run mark at a later stage of his playing life than Tendulkar did.
Where does Kohli stand in the all-time ODI run-scoring records?
Kohli now sits second on the all-time ODI runs list, with only Tendulkar ahead of him. Sangakkara remains the nearest challenger but is at least 766 runs adrift of Kohli’s current total.
Beyond the runs tally, Kohli also holds the record for the most centuries in ODI cricket. His 54 hundreds have moved him past Tendulkar’s previous record of 49, a mark that had stood for several years.
The achievement at Thiruvananthapuram places Kohli in a category that no other batter has entered. His name now sits alongside Tendulkar’s as one of only two players to have scored 15,000 runs in the 50-over format. Apart from this, Kohli has amassed 9,230 runs in Tests and 4,188 runs in T20Is.
