Top five highest run-getters in ODI cricket

The history of ODI cricket goes way back to 1974 when the Ashes rivals played each other. A year later, the first-ever Men's ODI World Cup was played, two years after the Women's World Cup. Since then, ODI cricket has gone through a lot of changes. It started as a 60-over affair including play with a red ball and players donning white shirts and trousers. 

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From the 1985 World Championship, played in the celebration of the formation of Victoria state in Australia, colored clothing became a thing of the game. Notably, in the Kerry Pecker World Series, a privately organized league, color clothing, and white balls were introduced in the game. Meanwhile, since the 1985 tournament, 50-over cricket was introduced and it has been going in the same format since then, albeit with changes in the playing conditions.

Meanwhile, in this listicle, will discuss the top five highest run-getters in ODI cricket

Top-five highest run-getters in ODI cricket

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1. Sachin Tendulkar

Talking about ODI cricket without Sachin Tendulkar is somewhat of a sin. After all, he has played the most number of games, i.e 463. In these games, the right-hander has gotten 18426 runs including 49 hundred and 96 fifties. At this point, it seems that the record of his aggregate runs is safe for a long time as no other player in the current era doesn't seem to play this many games.

2. Kumar Sangakkara 

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The former Sri Lanka wicketkeeper batter only 59 fewer games than the 2011 World Cup winner, Tendulkar. While the former has 14234 runs under his belt, him having only 25 hundreds compared to 93 fifties doesn't do justice to his batting prowess. 

3. Ricky Ponting

The three-time World Cup winner (two times as captain) played 375 games for Australia which is the most by any Aussie. The right-hander has 13437 runs to his name including 30 hundred and 82 fifties. 

4. Virat Kohli

The former India skipper is the only active player in the list of top-five run-getters. In his 286-game career and counting, he already has 13437 runs to his name and needs only 267 runs away from getting past Ponting. On the ongoing ODI World Cup, Kohli has 354 runs in five games and has five more games, excluding the semis although he is set to play that game too as India seems to have qualified for the knockouts already.

5. Sanath Jayasuriya

The former Sri Lanka skipper started as a middle-order player while making his debut in 1989. However, during the victorious 1996 World Cup, the left-hander was asked to open the batting and he never looked back. After playing 445 games, he has 13430, seven less than Kohli