By So I was scrolling through cricket stats today and this question popped into my head: who’s smashed the most runs in ODI history? Figured it’d be a quick search, but man was I wrong about that.
The Frustrating Start
First I just typed “top ODI run scorers” into Google expecting instant answers. Got flooded with articles from different years – 2018 lists, 2020 updates, fan forums with debates. Half these pages showed different numbers for the same players! Seriously annoying when you just want clear facts. Had to dig deeper.
Narrowing Down the Sources
Decided to hit up proper cricket databases instead of random blogs. Problem is some sites mix retired and active players without labels. Spent ages cross-checking between three different stats platforms. Noticed Virat Kohli’s total kept changing live as I refreshed – dude’s still adding runs!
My messy process went like this:
- Jotted down names that kept appearing top 5 everywhere
- Made separate columns for retired vs active players
- Checked multiple sources against each other
- Flagged mismatches like Sangakkara showing 14,234 on one site but 14,099 on another
The Final Count
After like an hour of flipping between tabs, here’s what actually held up:
- God himself Sachin Tendulkar – 18,426 runs (retired)
- Run machine Kumar Sangakkara – 14,234 runs (retired)
- Captain cool Ricky Ponting – 13,704 runs (retired)
- King Kohli – still chasing at 13,000+ (and counting)
What I Learned
Turns out checking cricket records ain’t straightforward. Older players’ stats get updated retroactively sometimes when they find missing matches. And active players like Kohli make the numbers outdated every month! Wasted so much time finding sites that properly separated retired legends from current players.
But seeing Sachin’s total gave me chills – 18 thousand runs! That’s like running between wickets from here to the moon. Insane how nobody’s even come close to touching that record.
