IND vs NZ 1st ODI: Virat Kohli Surpasses Kumar Sangakkara; Becomes the 2nd Highest Run-Scorer in Intl Cricket

January 12, 2026: Virat Kohli is now the second-highest run-scorer in international cricket. The 37-year-old right-handed batter from Delhi surpassed Kumar Sangakkara on Sunday, January 11, during the first ODI between India and New Zealand at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara.

Kohli needed 42 runs to go past Sangakkara’s record of 28,016 international runs. He achieved the milestone in the 19th over of India’s innings while chasing a target of 301 runs.

Kohli finished his Test career with 9,230 runs in 123 matches and has scored 4,188 runs in 125 T20Is. In ODIs, he has made 14,599* runs in 309 matches so far. Sachin Tendulkar remains the only batter ahead of him in international cricket run charts.

Tendulkar’s Record in International Cricket

Sachin Tendulkar played a total of 664 matches for India from 1989 to 2013 and scored 34,357 runs. He played 200 Test matches and made 15,921 runs. In 463 ODIs, Tendulkar scored 18,426 runs. He also played one T20I match against South Africa on December 1, 2006, where he was out for 10 runs off 12 balls.

Most runs in international cricket

Kohli Chasing Big Record Against New Zealand

Virat Kohli, who has scored two centuries and two half-centuries in his last four ODI innings, missed another milestone. He remains India’s second-highest run-scorer in ODIs against New Zealand. At present, Tendulkar holds the top spot with 1,750 runs in ODIs against New Zealand, and Kohli has scored 1,645 runs against New Zealand in ODIs. In the ongoing 3 ODI series, Kohli stands a very achievable target of becoming the Indian batsman with highest ODI runs against New Zealand. He is also 326 runs short of becoming the overall global record of most runs against the Kiwis.

The overall record for the most runs in ODIs against New Zealand belongs to former Australia captain Ricky Ponting. He played 51 ODIs against the Kiwis and scored 1,971 runs in 50 innings.