Highest run-scorers in ODI World Cup: Tendulkar leads, Kohli second

Sachin Tendulkar is still the leading run-scorer in ODI World Cup history with 2,278 runs, and has been since 2011. He made them across six editions, from 1992 to 2011, in 45 matches at 56.95.

Virat Kohli is second on 1,795 and is the one man near the top who is still playing. He moved there during the 2023 World Cup in India, where his 765 runs are the most anyone has made in a single edition. Complete to 11 September 2026 — the next 50-over World Cup is in 2027, so nothing below has moved since November 2023.

Most runs in ODI World Cup history

The 20 leading run-scorers across all 50-over World Cups. Source: ESPNcricinfo.

Rank	Player	Team	Span	Matches	Runs	Average	100s
1	Sachin Tendulkar	India	1992-2011	45	2,278	56.95	6
2	Virat Kohli	India	2011-2023	37	1,795	59.83	5
3	Ricky Ponting	Australia	1996-2011	46	1,743	45.86	5
4	Rohit Sharma	India	2015-2023	28	1,575	60.57	7
5	Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	2003-2015	37	1,532	56.74	5
6	David Warner	Australia	2015-2023	29	1,527	56.55	6
7	Shakib Al Hasan	Bangladesh	2007-2023	36	1,332	41.62	2
8	Brian Lara	West Indies	1992-2007	34	1,225	42.24	2
9	AB de Villiers	South Africa	2007-2015	23	1,207	63.52	4
10	Chris Gayle	West Indies	2003-2019	35	1,186	35.93	2
11	Kane Williamson	New Zealand	2011-2023	27	1,167	61.42	2
12	Sanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka	1992-2007	38	1,165	34.26	3
13	Jacques Kallis	South Africa	1996-2011	36	1,148	45.92	1
14	Steve Smith	Australia	2011-2023	34	1,136	42.07	1
15	Tillakaratne Dilshan	Sri Lanka	2007-2015	27	1,112	52.95	4
16	Mahela Jayawardene	Sri Lanka	1999-2015	40	1,100	35.48	4
17	Adam Gilchrist	Australia	1999-2007	31	1,085	36.16	1
18	Javed Miandad	Pakistan	1975-1996	33	1,083	43.32	1
19	Mushfiqur Rahim	Bangladesh	2007-2023	38	1,079	34.80	1
20	Stephen Fleming	New Zealand	1996-2007	33	1,075	35.83	2

Sachin Tendulkar, 2,278

Tendulkar appeared at six World Cups between 1992 and 2011 and made 2,278 runs in 45 matches at 56.95 with six hundreds and 15 fifties — more half-centuries than any other player in the tournament’s history.

His best edition was his last. In 2011 he finished second in the tournament with 482 runs in nine matches, behind Tillakaratne Dilshan’s 500, and India won the trophy at the Wankhede.

The gap he leaves is the point. Kohli, second, is 483 runs short of him — almost exactly a full Tendulkar World Cup.

What the 2023 World Cup did to this list

The edition in India rewrote the top half. Four of the top seven added to their totals and two of them changed places.

• Virat Kohli added 765 runs and is now second overall. That is the highest aggregate anyone has managed in a single World Cup, past Tendulkar’s 673 in 2003 and Matthew Hayden’s 659 in 2007. He began the tournament outside the top ten of this list.
• Rohit Sharma reached 1,575 and is now fourth, and took the record for most World Cup centuries with his seventh, against Afghanistan in Delhi.
• David Warner reached 1,527 and is now sixth, with hundreds against Pakistan and the Netherlands.
• Shakib Al Hasan is Bangladesh’s leading World Cup run-scorer on 1,332, with Mushfiqur Rahim 19th on 1,079 — the only two Bangladesh players in the twenty.

Most ODI World Cup runs for India

India supply three of the top four on the world list.

Rank	Player	Span	Matches	Runs	Average	100s
1	Sachin Tendulkar	1992-2011	45	2,278	56.95	6
2	Virat Kohli	2011-2023	37	1,795	59.83	5
3	Rohit Sharma	2015-2023	28	1,575	60.57	7
4	Sourav Ganguly	1999-2007	21	1,006	55.88	4
5	Rahul Dravid	1999-2007	22	860	61.42	2
6	Virender Sehwag	2003-2011	22	843	38.31	2
7	Mohammad Azharuddin	1987-1999	30	826	39.33	0
8	KL Rahul	2019-2023	20	813	58.07	2
9	MS Dhoni	2007-2019	29	780	43.33	0
10	Yuvraj Singh	2003-2011	23	738	52.71	1

Two names in that ten never made a World Cup hundred: Mohammad Azharuddin, whose 826 came with eight fifties and a best of 93, and MS Dhoni, who finished 91 not out in the 2011 final and never got to three figures in the tournament across 25 innings.

Who can still climb

The 2027 World Cup, in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, is the next chance for anyone on this list to move.

Kohli needs 483 to pass Tendulkar, which is more than he made in 2023 but not by much, and he was back in India’s ODI side against England in July 2026. Rohit needs 703, and his ODI future was on the selectors’ agenda as recently as September 2026.

The realistic reading: Tendulkar’s record survives 2027 unless Kohli plays every match of a deep run and scores heavily again. It has stood for fifteen years already.

 

Photo credit: Alamy