ODI cricket records: the biggest numbers in the 50-over game
From Sachin Tendulkar’s mountain of runs to Rohit Sharma’s 264 and England’s 498, here are the batting, bowling and wicketkeeping records that define one-day international cricket.
Jul 18, 2026
One-day international cricket has produced some of the sport’s most staggering numbers, from a 264 that still tops the charts to a team total of nearly 500. This guide runs through the biggest ODI cricket records across batting, bowling and wicketkeeping, who holds them, and how they were built.
Who holds the most ODI cricket records?
No single player owns the format, but a handful of names appear again and again. Sachin Tendulkar sits on top of the run charts, Muttiah Muralitharan leads the bowlers, Rohit Sharma has the highest individual score, and Virat Kohli has rewritten the century list. Below is a record-by-record look at the marks that define ODI cricket.
Most runs in ODI cricket
Sachin Tendulkar remains the most prolific batter one-day cricket has seen. His 18,426 runs across 463 matches have stood at the summit since he retired, and the gap to everyone else is still enormous. Kohli is the closest active challenger and the only realistic threat to the mark, though he would need several more seasons at the top to close it.
| Player | Runs | Span |
|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 18,426 | 1989–2012 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 14,234 | 2000–2015 |
| Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 13,704 | 1995–2012 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) | 13,430 | 1989–2011 |
Virat Kohli has since pushed into second place among all batters, and his full haul of milestones is worth a read on its own. We break them down in our guide to every major cricket record Virat Kohli holds.
Fastest to 10,000 ODI runs
Kohli did not just climb the run charts, he got there quicker than anyone. He reached 10,000 ODI runs in 205 innings, 54 fewer than Tendulkar needed, bringing up the mark with an unbeaten 157 against West Indies at Visakhapatnam in October 2018. Rohit Sharma is next on that list at 241 innings. The record captures how heavily Kohli front-loaded his run-scoring through the middle years of his career.
Highest individual score in an ODI
Rohit Sharma’s 264 against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens on 13 November 2014 is the highest score by any batter in a one-day international. He faced 173 balls, cleared the ropes nine times and found the boundary 33 times, a knock that took the ceiling for a single innings to a level nobody has approached since. It is also the centrepiece of Rohit’s ODI story, which we cover in full in our look at his highest ODI score and the night he ran riot at Eden.
Rohit is the only player with three ODI double hundreds, a record that speaks to how completely he owned the top of the innings in his pomp.
Most centuries in ODI cricket
For years Tendulkar’s 49 ODI hundreds looked like one of the safest records in the game. Kohli changed that. He has pushed his tally to 54, moving clear of Tendulkar to lead the all-time list and turning what was once seen as untouchable into his own record. Between them, the two Indians have set the standard for converting starts into three-figure scores.
Fastest century in ODI cricket
AB de Villiers holds the record for the quickest ODI hundred, reaching three figures in 31 balls against West Indies at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on 18 January 2015. The South African’s assault remains the benchmark for controlled hitting, and it came in an innings where the boundaries flowed from the very first ball he faced.
Most sixes in ODI cricket
Rohit Sharma cleared the fence more often than anyone in the 50-over game. He went past Shahid Afridi’s long-standing mark in November 2025 and now leads the list with 352 sixes to Afridi’s 351, with Chris Gayle next on 331. Only those three batters have crossed 300 sixes in ODIs. For the full breakdown, see our list of the biggest six-hitters in ODI history.
Highest team total in an ODI
England own the record for the biggest team score in one-day cricket. Their 498 for 4 against the Netherlands at the VRA Cricket Ground in Amstelveen on 17 June 2022 broke their own previous mark of 481 for 6, set against Australia in 2018. Three England batters reached centuries that day, an innings that showed how far scoring rates have climbed in the modern era.
| Total | Team | Opponent | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 498/4 | England | Netherlands | 2022 |
| 481/6 | England | Australia | 2018 |
| 444/3 | England | Pakistan | 2016 |
Lowest team total in an ODI
At the other end of the scale, 35 all out is the lowest any side has been bowled out for in an ODI, a mark Zimbabwe and the United States share. Zimbabwe folded for it against Sri Lanka in Harare in 2004, and the USA matched it against Nepal in Kirtipur in 2020, undone by spin inside 12 overs. Canada’s 36 against Sri Lanka in 2003 is still the lowest total anyone has managed at a World Cup.
Highest partnership in an ODI
The biggest stand in one-day history belongs to Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, who put on 372 for the second wicket against Zimbabwe at the 2015 World Cup. Gayle did most of the damage with 215 off 147 balls, his 16 sixes setting the tone, while Samuels held the other end for an unbeaten 133. Only four other pairs have passed 300 for a single wicket in ODIs: two Indian combinations from 1999, plus a West Indian pair in 2019 and a Pakistani pair in 2018.
Most wickets in ODI cricket
Muttiah Muralitharan is the leading wicket-taker in ODI history with 534 scalps from 350 matches, the only bowler to pass the 530 mark. His off-breaks and the doosra made him a threat on any surface, and Wasim Akram is the next name on the list with 502 wickets.
| Bowler | Wickets | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) | 534 | 350 |
| Wasim Akram (PAK) | 502 | 356 |
Best bowling figures in an ODI innings
Chaminda Vaas produced the best figures in a single ODI innings, taking 8 wickets for 19 runs against Zimbabwe in Colombo in 2001. The left-armer claimed eight of the ten wickets to fall as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 38, and his return is still the only eight-wicket haul in ODI history.
Most dismissals by a wicketkeeper
Kumar Sangakkara stands alone behind the stumps as well as in front of them. His 482 dismissals are more than any other keeper has managed in ODIs, a mark built over 15 years of catching and stumping for Sri Lanka. It is one more line on a career that made him one of the format’s most complete cricketers.
How ODI records compare across formats
The 50-over game sits between the patience of Tests and the chaos of T20, and its records reflect that balance. Bowlers still build long careers here in a way the shortest format rarely allows, while batters have the room to post the individual scores that T20 cannot. For the red-ball side of the ledger, see our rundown of the biggest Test cricket records, and for the women’s game, our guide to the leading records in women’s cricket covers the same ground across all three formats.
ODI records tend to move slowly, then all at once. Tendulkar’s run mark has held for more than a decade, yet the century list fell to Kohli and the team-total ceiling jumped by 17 runs in a single afternoon in the Netherlands. That mix of the settled and the sudden is what keeps the format’s record book worth watching.