Reaching a run milestone quickly is a sign of both talent and consistency. The records below are measured by innings, which is the standard way to compare batters across eras.
Don Bradman is out on his own in Tests. Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam and Kohli lead the ODI chart, and T20Is are still waiting for their first 5,000-run scorer. With Abhishek and Kishan scoring at their current pace, the T20I records could change faster than any others.
T20Is have only been played at the highest level since 2005, and the number of matches is limited compared to ODIs. Many of the top batters also play franchise cricket, so the cumulative runs are split. Babar reached 4,596 in 136 innings, which is a good pace, but he scores at a strike rate of around 128, slower than newer batters.
The new wave of T20I batters is scoring faster, but they have fewer innings so far. Abhishek Sharma reached 1,000 T20I runs in a record 528 balls, and Ishan Kishan scored 1,220 T20I runs in 2026 alone. If they keep up that pace for another five or six years, they could challenge for 5,000 in fewer innings than Babar, but the milestone is still some way off.
Fastest to 1000 Runs, 5000 Runs, And 10000 Runs in Each Format
| Milestone | Tests | ODIs | T20Is |
| 1,000 runs | 12 innings (Sutcliffe, Weekes) | 18 innings (Fakhar Zaman) | 24 innings (Malan, Davizi) |
| 5,000 runs | 56 innings (Bradman) | 97 innings (Babar Azam) | Not yet reached |
| 10,000 runs | 195 innings (Lara, Tendulkar, Sangakkara) | 205 innings (Virat Kohli) | Not yet reached |
Test Cricket
1,000 runs. Herbert Sutcliffe and Everton Weekes did it in 12 innings, according to Cricbites. Don Bradman reached the mark in 13 innings in just seven Tests, which is the fewest matches of any player. Bradman’s start included a 334 at Headingley in 1930, and he scored five hundreds in those first 13 innings.
5,000 runs. Bradman again holds the record, with 5,000 runs in 56 innings, far ahead of everyone else. The next best performers need more than 90 innings. Garfield Sobers reached it in 95, Sachin Tendulkar in 103, Brian Lara in 104 and Kumar Sangakkara in 106. Bradman’s pace reflects his average of 99.94, still the highest in Test history.
10,000 runs. Three players share the record at 195 innings: Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara. Lara was the fastest by matches, with 111 Tests, and by time, taking 13 years and 250 days. Tendulkar needed 122 Tests, and Sangakkara reached it in 115 Tests at the MCG in 2012. Bradman never reached 10,000 because he played only 52 Tests.
One Day Internationals
1,000 runs. Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman did it in just 18 innings, in a match against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in July 2018. He beat the previous mark of 21 innings, which had been shared by five players including Babar Azam. Imam-ul-Haq and Shubman Gill reached it in 19.
5,000 runs. Babar Azam holds the record at 97 innings, ahead of Hashim Amla’s 101. He also tied Amla for 6,000 runs in 123 innings.
10,000 runs. Virat Kohli took 205 innings, a long way ahead of Tendulkar’s previous mark of 259. He reached 8,000 runs in 175 innings and 9,000 in 194, so his pace was consistently ahead of all others. Kohli later added several thousand more runs and finished well past 14,000.
Shubman Gill also holds a record for 2,000 ODI runs, doing it in 38 innings.
T20 Internationals
1,000 runs. Dawid Malan of England and Sabawoon Davizi of the Czech Republic share the record at 24 innings, which makes Malan the fastest full-member batter and Davizi the fastest associate batter. Virat Kohli did it in 27 innings, and India’s Abhishek Sharma took 28.
Abhishek holds a different record: he took just 528 balls to reach 1,000 T20I runs, the fewest in history. That reflects his strike rate rather than the number of innings he needed.
3,000 runs. Kohli and Babar Azam both reached 3,000 in 81 innings, which is the best mark among players with a long T20I career.
5,000 and 10,000 runs. Pakistan’s Babar Azam leads the all-time list with 4,596 runs in 136 innings. He passed Rohit Sharma’s total of 4,231 on 31 October 2025 in Lahore and has continued to add to it. Babar needs about 404 more runs, and at his career average of around 39 runs per inning, that would take roughly 10 or 11 innings.
Four players have crossed 4,000 runs (Babar, Buttler, Rohit and Kohli), and only Babar and Buttler are still active, so the 5,000 mark depends on them.
FAQs
Q. Who is the fastest to 1,000 Test runs by innings?
A. Herbert Sutcliffe and Everton Weekes reached the mark in 12 innings.
Q. Who holds the record for the fastest 5,000 Test runs?
A. Don Bradman reached 5,000 runs in just 56 innings.
Q. Who is the fastest to 10,000 ODI runs?
A. Virat Kohli reached the milestone in 205 innings.
Q. Who shares the record for the fastest 1,000 T20I runs?
A. Dawid Malan and Sabawoon Davizi reached it in 24 innings.
Q. Who has scored the most runs in T20I cricket?
A. Babar Azam leads with 4,596 runs in 136 innings.
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