A comparative analysis of Sachin and Virat's road to 15,000 ODI runs
Virat Kohli with Sachin Tendulkar's jersey (Source: X/@BCCI)
Published - 27 Sep 2026, 08:37 PM• Read time - 5 mins
Virat Kohli did what he does best, helping India ace yet another run chase, this time against West Indies at the Greenfield International Stadium in Trivandrum on September 27 and take a 1-0 lead in the ongoing three-match ODI series.
Virat reached his 86th hundred as India chased down 296 with eight wickets and 50 balls to spare. It was also his 25th ODI hundred in successful run chases, 11 more than Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma, who are the next best with 14 each.
Virat also scaled the 15,000-run milestone in ODI cricket, becoming only the second player after Tendulkar to get there. He reached there in style, pulling a short delivery from Alzarri Joseph and sending it to the deep midwicket fence for a boundary on the penultimate ball of the 29th over.
Sachin Tendulkar vs Virat Kohli: Comparing their journeys to 15,000 ODI runs
Virat has taken 74 innings fewer than Tendulkar to reach the 15,000-run mark in one-day internationals (ODIs). Sachin, who made his debut as a 16-year-old against Pakistan in Gujranwala, completed 15,000 ODI runs at the age of 34 years and 66 days. On the contrary, Virat took 37 years and 326 days to reach the milestone after making his ODI debut as a 19-year-old against Sri Lanka in Dambulla on August 18, 2008.
| Metric | Sachin Tendulkar | Virat Kohli |
|---|---|---|
| ODIs | 387 | 315 |
| Innings | 377 | 303 |
| Average | 44.24 | 59.13 |
| Strike Rate | 85.61 | 94.3 |
| Highest Score | 186* | 183 |
| 100s/50s | 41 / 79 | 55 / 79 |
Virat played down the milestone, emphasising instead the need to get the team over the line. He called himself blessed to be in such a situation and wants to keep winning games of cricket for the Men in Blue.
"My focus has never been on these milestones," Virat said after the game. "It's been about focusing on situations, doing the job for the team. Obviously I feel very grateful and blessed for having played so long. Keeping my head down... So many people want to be here, we are blessed to be here. Just an understanding of the game, the stage I'm at, keeping myself physically fit, the game's in the mind. It's all about staying mentally fresh, in the present moment, expressing myself out there."