Mumbai (Pakistan News) Indian star batter Virat Kohli has become the first player in the world to complete 13,000 runs in One Day Internationals (ODIs) while batting at the number three position.
In the opening match of the series, held at Eden Park in Auckland, Kohli needed just 12 runs to reach this milestone—a target he achieved on the 13th ball of his innings. Kohli accomplished this feat in a mere 251 innings. His average while batting at number three stands at 61.55, and he has scored 48 centuries and nearly 70 half-centuries from this position.
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting sits in second place on this list with 12,662 runs, followed by former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara in third with 9,747 runs.
South Africa’s Jacques Kallis (7,774 runs) and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson (6,504 runs) hold the fourth and fifth positions, respectively. However, the top four players closest to Kohli have all retired from international cricket.
Furthermore, the active cricketers on this list are so far behind Kohli that the chances of this record being broken are extremely slim. Pakistan’s 32-year-old Babar Azam (6,054 runs) and England’s 35-year-old Joe Root (5,525 runs) remain approximately 7,000 runs short of Kohli’s record.
Even at the age of 37, Kohli’s performance has remained outstanding in 2026. Prior to the New Zealand series, he had scored 552 runs in 9 innings, including two centuries and three half-centuries.