Virat Kohli Surpasses Kumar Sangakkara to Become Fastest to 28,000 International Runs

Virat Kohli created history in the first ODI between India and New Zealand on Sunday, January 11. During the match at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara, he went past Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara to become one of the highest run-scorers in international cricket. Kohli completed his 28000 runs in international cricket and shortly after, went past the Sri Lankan icon.

Before the match, the Indian star needed 25 runs to complete 28,000 runs in international cricket and 42 runs to go past Kumar Sangakkara. He achieved the first milestone during the 13th over and then completed the second record during the 19th over of the run chase against New Zealand.

Virat Kohli Surpasses Kumar Sangakkara, Becomes Fastest to 28,000 International Runs

Meanwhile, Kohli broke a major world record that was earlier held by Sachin Tendulkar during the first match of the series. Kohli has become the fastest player to reach 28000 runs in international cricket as he got the milestone in 624 innings, going past the legendary Tendulkar, who had reached the feat in 644 outings.

Kumar Sangakkara reached 28,000 international runs in 666 matches. Kohli and Rohit Sharma received a special felicitation earlier in the match. During the mid-innings break, the two were felicitated by the Baroda Cricket Association members with BCCI president Mithun Minhas, vice-president Rajeev Shukla and ICC chairman Jay Shah in attendance. 

New Zealand finished strongly in the first innings, scoring 300 runs. The highlights were solid half-centuries by Daryl Mitchell, Devon Conway, and Henry Nicholls.

Most runs in International cricket

Player	Matches	Innings	Runs	HS	Avg
Sachin Tendulkar	664	782	34,357	248*	48.52
Virat Kohli	556	624	28,017*	254*	52.58
Kumar Sangakkara	594	666	28,016	319	46.77
Ricky Ponting	560	668	27,483	257	45.95
Mahela Jayawardene	652	725	25,957	374	39.15
Jacques Kallis	519	617	25,534	224	49.10
Rahul Dravid	509	605	24,208	270	45.41
Brian Lara	430	521	22,358	400*	46.28
Joe Root	381	503	22,166*	262	49.36
Sanath Jayasuriya	586	651	21,032	340	34.14