<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 July 2018, twelve 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 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 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 July 2018, Tendulkar leads the list with 18,426 runs, and he is followed by Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara (14,234 runs). India's MS Dhoni, the latest to achieve this feat, has the highest average (51.25) among all and is the only active player in the format . </P>

Who has scored the most runs in odi