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Published : 11 Jan 2026, 09:14 PM
Virat Kohli has claimed yet another record from cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, becoming the fastest player to reach 28,000 international runs.
The milestone came in the first ODI against New Zealand on Sunday, where Kohli needed just 25 runs to reach the landmark.
He achieved it in style, smashing a four off leg-spinner Adithya Ashok to reach the coveted total.
Across formats, it took Kohli 624 innings to reach the milestone -- 20 fewer than Tendulkar, who required 644 innings, and 42 fewer than Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara, who needed 666 innings.
By surpassing Sangakkara’s tally, Kohli also became the second-highest run-scorer in international cricket, needing 42 runs on the day to do so.
Sangakkara amassed 28,016 runs in 666 innings between 2000 and 2015, while Tendulkar’s 34,357 runs in 782 innings from 1989 to 2013 remain untouchable.
At Vadodara on Sunday, Kohli had already passed fifty as this report was being filed, marking his fifth consecutive ODI fifty.
At 37, Kohli plays exclusively in ODIs for India. Returning after seven months in October against Australia, he endured two ducks before contributing an unbeaten 74 in the third match to secure victory.
He continued his rich vein of form with centuries in the first two matches of the home series against South Africa (135 and 102) and followed with an unbeaten 65 in the third.
In domestic one-day action, Kohli scored 131 and 77 in two matches for Delhi, demonstrating his enduring class.
Carrying this momentum into the first ODI against New Zealand, Kohli once again proved why he remains one of the world’s premier batsmen.
