Virat Kohli reached two significant milestones during the first ODI against West Indies at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram, on September 27, 2026. He became only the second batter in history to cross 15,000 ODI runs and extended his own record to 55 ODI centuries, the most by any batter in the format’s history.
Having retired from Test cricket in May 2025 after 123 Tests, and from T20Is following India’s 2024 T20 World Cup triumph, Kohli’s only active international format is now ODIs. With the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027, co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, confirmed as his final World Cup, the question of how close he can get to Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time ODI and international records has become central to Indian cricket.
1. Kohli’s ODI run gap and matches remaining before World Cup 2027
Kohli currently stands at 15,080 ODI runs in 303 innings from 315 matches, at a batting average of 59.13. Tendulkar’s all-time ODI run record is 18,426 runs from 452 innings across 463 matches. That leaves Kohli needing 3,346 more ODI runs to surpass Tendulkar’s mark. Kohli reached 15,000 runs in 303 innings, which is 74 fewer innings than Tendulkar’s 377, and consumed roughly 1,600 fewer deliveries in doing so.
Kohli has missed out the Afghanistan series due to injury and could not able to reach the three-figure mark in England. Now, he has two more ODIs against West Indies followed by 5-match series against New Zealand and three against Sri Lanka at the end of this year. Before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Kohli can be seen in action against Zimbabwe for another three ODIs in home.
2. Kohli’s international century target and the road to 100
On the ODI century count, Kohli has already moved past Tendulkar. His 55 ODI centuries compare with Tendulkar’s 49, meaning Kohli leads by six in the 50-over format and that particular record is no longer in question. The more demanding target is Tendulkar’s all-time record of 100 international centuries across all formats. Kohli currently has 86 international centuries in total.
With Tests and T20Is behind him, every additional century must now come in ODIs. He needs 14 more international hundreds to equal Tendulkar’s landmark of 100. Kohli has confirmed that the 2027 World Cup will be his last for India. Whether the ODI schedule between now and the end of the 2027 tournament provides enough innings for 14 more centuries will determine whether Kohli can reach that historic three-figure mark.