<P> Scoring over 10,000 runs across a playing career in any format of cricket is considered a significant achievement . In the year 2001, Sachin Tendulkar became the first player to score 10,000 runs in ODIs, while playing a match during the bi-lateral series against Australia at home . In the chase for achieving top scores, West Indies' Desmond Haynes retired as the most prolific run - scorer in One Day Internationals (ODIs), with a total of 8,648 runs in 1994 . The record stood for four years until it was broken by India's Mohammed Azharuddin . Azharuddin remained the top - scorer in the format until his compatriot Sachin Tendulkar passed him in October 2000 . As of August 2016, eleven players--from six teams that are Full members of the International Cricket Council--have scored more than 10,000 runs in ODIs . Four of these are from Sri Lanka and three from India . The rest are one player each from Pakistan, Australia, West Indies, and South Africa . Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, and Zimbabwe are yet to have a player reach the 10,000 - run mark in this format . </P> <P> Tendulkar took the fewest innings (259) while Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene took the most innings to achieve the feat (333). Tendulkar holds multiple records--the most appearances, the best average, and the highest number of both centuries and half - centuries . Rahul Dravid--the third Indian to reach the milestone after Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly--is the fastest in terms of time span, taking 10 years and 317 days . Brian Lara's time span of 16 years and 17 days is the slowest among all . As of August 2016, Tendulkar leads the list with 18,426 runs, followed by Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, who scored 14,234 . Sangakkara's compatriot Tillakaratne Dilshan was the latest player to achieve this feat . </P>

First player to score 10000 runs in odi