Rohit Sharma emulates Virat Kohli, becomes 4th Indian batter to 20,000 runs

Former captain Rohit Sharma achieved a major milestone on Saturday, going past 20,000 runs in international cricket. The 38-year-old achieved the feat when he got to 27 in his knock of 75 during India's chase of 271 against South Africa in the final ODI of a three-match series in Visakhapatnam.
IND v SA, 3rd ODI Updates | Scorecard
Rohit Sharma became only the fourth Indian batter to achieve the landmark and the 14th batter to get to the milestone in international cricket. Rohit joined an elite list of Indian batters, including Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.
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Rohit hit 75 off 73 balls, smashing seven boundaries and a six before getting out to Keshav Maharaj. The senior campaigner and Yashasvi Jaiswal added 155 runs for the opening partnership, laying a strong foundation for India's chase in the series decider.
MOST RUNS IN INTERNATIONAL CRICKET FOR INDIA
Sachin Tendulkar: 664 matches, 34,357 runs, 100 hundreds, 164 fifties
Virat Kohli: 556 matches, 27,910 runs, 84 hundreds, 144 fifties
Rahul Dravid: 504 matches, 24,064 runs, 48 hundreds, 145 fifties
Rohit Sharma: 505 matches, 20,000* runs, 50 hundreds, 110 fifties
Sourav Ganguly: 421 matches, 18,433 runs, 38 hundreds, 106 fifties
MS Dhoni: 535 matches, 17,092 runs, 15 hundreds, 108 fifties
Rohit has scored over 11,000 runs in ODIs and over 4000 in T20Is as majority of his 20,000 runs have come in white-ball cricket. Notably, the T20 World Cup-winning captain finished as India's leading run-getter in the shortest format of the game - 4231 runs in 159 matches.
Rohit Sharma made his ODI debut for India on 23 June 2007 against Ireland. In the early years of his limited-overs career he often batted in the middle order and went through a rough patch — by 2013, after 86 ODIs, his record was modest, which left many questioning whether he could fulfil the promise he showed.
However, the switch flicked when he was asked to open the batting in 2013 by MS Dhoni.
Rohit gradually found his rhythm and redefined himself as one of the most destructive openers in ODI history. He rewrote the record books by becoming the only batsman in the world to score three double centuries in ODIs, a feat unmatched by any of his peers. His most iconic knock came in 2014: an unbeaten 264-run innings against Sri Lanka — the highest individual score ever recorded in a men’s ODI match.
His brilliance shone brightest during big tournaments. In the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, Rohit became the first player ever to hit five centuries in a single edition of the tournament — finishing as the leading run-scorer and playing a crucial role in India’s deep run.
Rohit redefined India's white-ball batting, by leading an aggressive approach at the top of the order. He was at his aggressive best when he led India to the 2023 World Cup final. While there was a heartbreak in the final at home against Australia, Rohit made up for it by leading India to the 2024 T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy in 2025.
While Rohit holds the distinction of having played in every edition of the T20 World Cup since 2007, he also enjoyed a resurgence in his Test career after being asked to open in 2019. Over the next six years, he dominated World Test Championship cycles and established himself as one of the most dependable openers in the format. However, after a couple of horror series with the bat, he announced his retirement from Test cricket in 2025.
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