Top 5 Batters with the Most Runs in ICC Tournaments (All-time)

Players such as Sachin Tendulkar in 50-over cricket and Virat Kohli in all formats have been able to showcase what clutch batting looks like on a global stage.

Here’s a Look at the Top Five Run-Scorers in ICC Tournaments (All-Time)

Sachin Tendulkar — India

Sachin Tendulkar’s legacy as a player in ICC tournaments began with his historical performance at World Cups, in which he holds the record for the most runs ever scored by a player at an ODI World Cup (2,278 runs), and also has the record for the most runs scored in one World Cup (673 runs at the 2003 World Cup).

Tendulkar has also contributed to the Champions Trophy (441 runs in five editions). When combining all of Sachin Tendulkar’s statistics from ICC events, he has accumulated an overall total of 2,719 runs in 61 matches.

For over 20 years (from before 1990), Tendulkar has set the level of excellence in ICC tournaments by showing that he could score runs against virtually any type of bowling action, and from all these different World Cups, he continues to be a benchmark for success at ICC tournaments.

Virat Kohli — India

Kohli has undoubtedly been one of the greatest players in the history of ICC events. He has scored more T20 World Cup runs than any other batsman (1,292), and he is also one of the highest run-scorers in one-day international (ODI) World Cups.

Overall, he has scored more than 2,300 runs in all ICC white-ball events that occur in World Cups (ODI and T20), cementing his place as one of the all-time great players in global events.

His ongoing reputation as a big-game player/chase-master continues to be bolstered by his performances in knockout tournaments and high-pressure matches.

Kumar Sangakkara — Sri Lanka

As an important contributor to ICC competitions, Kumar Sangakkara from Sri Lanka has posted some of the highest totals ever recorded in one-day international matches (ODIs) and Twenty20 World Cups combined; he, alone, has over 2100 runs in World Cups.

His consistency reached its height at the 2015 ODI World Cup, where he became the first person to score four consecutive centuries – an incredible achievement in ICC tournament history.

Ricky Ponting — Australia

Throughout his career in the cricket world (during the Australian cricket boom of 1999-2007), Ricky Ponting maintained a high level of performance over multiple years, including the 14 years during which he played/won the most games as captain for Australia, leading them to back-to-back World Titles as well as winning the ICC Champions Trophy (in 2009).

Ricky Ponting’s legendary innings of 140* (not out) in the final 2003 World Cup is one of the greatest individual achievements in the history of the ICC, securing his place as one of history’s most successful players under extreme pressure.

Rohit Sharma — India

Rohit Sharma has become one of today’s most damaging batsmen at the ICC tournament level. He has more than 1500 runs from ODI World Cups and has, in 2019 alone, made five centuries out of only 1200 runs from T20 World Cups.

His uniqueness within the ICC tournaments stems from his ability to make something out of nothing when he is batting at the top.

The Bigger Picture

The difference between these players and all others is the volume of runs scored over their careers, but their ability to be consistent over different formats, countries, and levels of pressure.

Since ICC tournaments take place over a limited period of time, they compress the pressure on batters to perform at an exceptional level. Thus, maintaining that level of excellence over a sustained period of time is more challenging than it would be in a bilateral series. The batters included on this list have continually risen to the occasion and, as a result, their names will continue to be in the annals of cricketing history.