Kohli vs Tendulkar: Comparing their journey to 15,000 ODI runs

Virat Kohli reached 15,000 ODI runs in fewer innings than Sachin Tendulkar, but their numbers came in different eras. Changes to rules, fielding restrictions, balls and batting positions provide important context to comparisons between the two Indian batting greats

New Delhi: Virat Kohli reached 15,000 ODI runs in 74 fewer innings than the peerless Sachin Tendulkar, but does this mean that he has well and truly surpassed the ‘Mumbai Master’ in the format?

The answer may not be as simple as the statistics suggest because the 50-over game that Tendulkar played for more than two decades was very different in its rules and texture.

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Kohli and Tendulkar are both geniuses, unique for the times they ruled, and hence not comparable through mere number-crunching.

But is Kohli a bigger phenomenon than Tendulkar in ODIs? In some cases, yes, but such a comparison can never be linear.

Both have a couple of landmarks to their credit that are unlikely to be touched by anyone else in the near future.

Kohli’s number of hundreds, which stands at 55 and is still counting, and Tendulkar’s quantum of runs, 18,426. Kohli has 15,080 runs in the format and it is virtually impossible for him to surpass Tendulkar given the dwindling number of ODIs in the calendar.

Tendulkar vs Kohli: Numbers and beyond

In terms of innings played, Kohli reached 15,000 ODI runs in his 303rd innings (315th match), while Tendulkar reached the same milestone in 377 innings (387 matches).

Even more striking is that Kohli took 1,578 fewer deliveries than Tendulkar to reach the mark.

Tendulkar faced 17,528 balls to reach 15,000 runs, while Kohli faced 15,950 balls to achieve the same milestone.

Kohli played at least nine per cent fewer balls, indicating that he scored the runs at a faster clip than the ‘Master Blaster’.

Kohli’s runs-per-innings figure is also significantly higher than Tendulkar’s.

Kohli’s figure stands at 49.5 compared to Tendulkar’s 39.9.

The batting average, when unbeaten knocks are computed, is 58.8 for Kohli compared to Tendulkar’s 44.24, which was considered brilliant for his peak era between 1995 and 2011.

Kohli’s strike rate of more than 94 is also better than Tendulkar’s 86. Until he reached 15,000 runs, Tendulkar had 41 centuries, 14 fewer than Kohli’s 55.

This means Kohli, the greatest ODI batter in the last two decades, scored a hundred every 5.5 innings (303), while it took Tendulkar 9.2 innings per century (41 out of 377).

Putting numbers in broader context

The Kohli vs Tendulkar comparison is certainly a popular debate, but whenever the numbers overwhelmingly point to the Delhi batter’s greatness over the Mumbai icon, one should quietly add another variable that lends a different dimension to the debate.

An important point to note is that Tendulkar featured in about 40 to 50 red-ball ODIs in which early-morning starts favoured swing bowlers, making batting a lot more difficult.

There were also several rule changes that forced ODIs to undergo a sea change from the time Tendulkar made his ODI debut in Gujranwala on December 18, 1989, to the high-calibre knock that Kohli played on September 27, 2026.

For the better part of Tendulkar’s 463 ODI games, there was only one ball used during the entire 50 overs. For a majority of Tendulkar’s playing days, fielding restrictions applied only in the first 15 overs, compared to the three powerplays that benefit batting teams currently.

Tendulkar also did not open or bat at No. 3 in his first 69 games, and his first hundred came when he opened in his 74th ODI in Sri Lanka.

Around 1,800 of his 18,426 runs — about 10 per cent — were scored when he batted at Nos. 5 or 6, with not many overs left and no field restrictions to take advantage of.

The white ball would also get softer and discoloured in subcontinental conditions, requiring more power and skill to clear the ropes.

Then came two specific ODI rule changes, one in 2011 and another in 2015, that coincided with Kohli’s emergence as a modern-day 50-over great.

The first was the introduction of two new white balls from both ends, which effectively meant that one ball would be only 25 overs old during the course of a game. The colour remained intact, the ball remained harder and came onto the bat nicely.

From 2014 to 2019, Kohli was raking in ODI hundreds. In 2015, there came another rule change and it proved decisive.

Between overs 11 and 40, only four fielders were allowed outside the 30-yard circle.

Tendulkar never had the freedom of batting with such fielding restrictions during the middle overs, and there would inevitably be five fielders outside the circle.

That removal of an extra fielder opened up a vacant scoring area, and Kohli was not going to let that opportunity go.