It is hard not to celebrate a few milestones that are beyond what we can expect from one’s cricketing career, which can span for a maximum of 15 years.
Few, who have stayed more than others by staying fit and relevant to the changes and challenges the game of Cricket demands, have managed to cross more paths and achieve milestones that are only a dream for many. Accumulating an aggregate of 20000 runs in international cricket (all formats together) is one of them. In more than 100 years through which the game has thrived, only 12 players on date have reached the 20K international runs.
This article will list them below with the classification of runs they scored in each format.
Players with 20000+ Runs in International Cricket
| PLAYER | OVERALL RUNS | TEST RUNS | ODI RUNS | T20I RUNS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 34357 | 15921 | 18426 | 10 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 28016 | 12400 | 14234 | 1382 |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 27599 | 9230 | 14181 | 4188 |
| Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 27483 | 13378 | 13704 | 401 |
| Mahela Jayawardene (SL) | 25957 | 11814 | 12650 | 1493 |
| Jacques Kallis (SA) | 25534 | 13289 | 11579 | 666 |
| Rahul Dravid (IND) | 24208 | 13288 | 10889 | 31 |
| Brian Lara (WI) | 22358 | 11953 | 10405 | – |
| Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) | 21032 | 6973 | 13430 | 629 |
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) | 20988 | 11867 | 8778 | 343 |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 20758 | 13006 | 6859 | 893 |
| Inzamam-ul-Haq (PAK) | 20580 | 8830 | 11739 | 11 |
| AB de Villiers (SA) | 20014 | 8765 | 9577 | 1672 |
Key Stats
Sachin Tendulkar is the only player to score 15000+ runs in a single format. He has more than 15K runs in both Tests and ODIs, becoming the only one to crack the magical 30K milestone.
Virat Kohli, who is yet to break the Double 10K list (10000 runs in Test and ODI), is among the top run-getter in the third format (T20Is). He might become the first-ever player in cricket history to reach the triple milestone of Test and ODI 10K, along with 5K in T20I.
Sri Lankan players dominate the list, with three of them being the part, whereas India, South Africa, and West Indies have 2 entrants each.
Inzamam-ul-Haq, who leads the all-format runs-scorers chart for Pakistan, is the only Pakistan player on the list.
Brian Lara is the only player on the list who hasn’t played any T20 international matches.
