Virat Kohli climbs to second on all-time international run charts after Sachin Tendulkar

Virat Kohli has surged to second place on the all-time international run-scorers list, overtaking legends of the game and now trailing only Sachin Tendulkar, further cementing his status as one of cricket’s greatest modern icons.

India’s Virat Kohli has become the second-highest run-scorer in international cricket, overtaking Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara following a match-winning innings against New Zealand in the first ODI at Vadodara.

Kohli’s fluent 93 off 91 balls helped India chase down a target of 301 with four wickets and six balls to spare, giving the hosts a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. With that knock, the former India captain took his career tally to 28,068 runs across Tests, ODIs and T20Is, moving past Sangakkara’s 28,016. Only Sachin Tendulkar, with 34,357 runs, now stands ahead of him.

Speaking after being named Player of the Match, Kohli reflected on the milestone with humility. “If I look back at my whole journey, it is nothing short of a dream come true,” he said, adding that hard work and gratitude had shaped his career more than individual records.

Despite narrowly missing what would have been his 54th ODI century, Kohli dismissed any focus on personal landmarks. “I’m not thinking about milestones at all,” he said, noting that his priority was putting the team in a winning position. The innings marked his fifth consecutive 50-plus score in ODIs, underlining his rich vein of form.

Now in his 17th year of international cricket, Kohli said he has adjusted his batting approach, aiming to maximise the first 20 balls of his innings and apply early pressure on bowlers. After Rohit Sharma’s dismissal in the ninth over, Kohli chose to counterattack rather than retreat into defence, a move that shifted momentum in India’s favour.

“There’s no point waiting around for too long,” he explained. “You still stick to your strengths, but you back yourself enough to put the opposition on the back foot.”

Kohli added that while he felt capable of scoring faster, match awareness dictated restraint during the chase. “The only thing on my mind was getting the team into a position where we could win comfortably—and that ended up being the difference.”

Popularly known as ‘King Kohli’, the 37-year-old now plays only ODIs after retiring from T20 internationals and Test cricket alongside Rohit Sharma. With both veterans widely expected to target the 2027 ODI World Cup, Kohli’s latest milestone further cements his legacy as one of the greatest batters the game has seen.