Key points:
- Kohli completed 28,000 international runs during the 13th over of India’s chase in the 1st ODI vs New Zealand at the BCA Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara.
- He needed just 25 runs at the start of his innings to reach the landmark, which he brought up with a boundary off spinner Adithya Ashok.
- With this, Kohli became the third batter to 28,000 international runs after Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara, and the fastest to get there in only 624 innings.
- He also went past Sangakkara’s career tally of 28,016 to move into second place in the all-format run charts, behind Tendulkar’s 34,357.
- The milestone came in a 301 run chase after New Zealand posted 300 for 8, in the first men’s ODI played in Vadodara in 15 years and the first ever at the Kotambi (BCA) Stadium.
The landmark came on Sunday, January 11, in the series opener of the three-match ODI series, where India were set a target of 301 by New Zealand at the BCA Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara. Walking in needing 25 runs to reach 28,000 across formats, Kohli brought up the record in the 13th over by driving Adithya Ashok for a boundary, drawing loud cheers from a near capacity crowd of around 35,000.
He thus became only the third batter in history to breach the 28,000 run mark in international cricket, joining Tendulkar and Sangakkara in an elite club and strengthening his case among the modern greats. What makes this feat even more special is that he did it in just 624 international innings, bettering Tendulkar’s previous benchmark of 644 innings for the same milestone.
Where Kohli stands among the greats
- Sachin Tendulkar remains at the top of the all-format run charts with 34,357 runs in international cricket, a record that has stood since his retirement.
- Behind him now stands Virat Kohli, who by crossing 28,000 and edging past Sangakkara’s 28,016 runs, has taken sole possession of second place in the all-time list.
- Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara slips to third, followed by names like Ricky Ponting, Mahela Jayawardene, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid, and Brian Lara, all of whom finished below the 28,000 mark.
Kohli’s career numbers across formats underline this dominance, with over 9,000 runs in Tests, more than 14,000 in ODIs, and in excess of 4,000 in T20Is, along with a batting average above 50 in international cricket. He had already become the second-highest run scorer in ODI history in 2025, surpassing Sangakkara’s tally in the format, and now trails only Tendulkar there as well.
Records still in Kohli’s reach
Before this ODI, Kohli needed 42 runs to go past Sangakkara’s 28,016, and he has now overhauled that mark, tightening his grip on second place in the all-format charts. With Tendulkar’s 34,357 still some distance away, every big series from here on will bring the conversation back to whether Kohli can eventually challenge that summit.
Against New Zealand in particular, pre-series calculations showed Kohli just 94 runs short of overtaking Sachin Tendulkar as India’s highest run scorer in ODIs between the two countries, giving him another major landmark to chase during this three-match rubber. Coming into this series in excellent form, with multiple centuries and half-centuries in his recent ODI innings, Kohli has a realistic chance of rewriting yet another chapter in India vs New Zealand batting records before the tour ends.
