Least innings taken to score 24K international runs

As in every sport, completing a major milestone in cricket is a direct reflection of how great a player is. Landmarks such as a half-century, century and five-wicket haul, among others, are always celebrated and something the players look back on with immense pride. And over the last few years, we have seen several records being broken with the benchmark going up a notch higher.

On that note, here are the top three fastest batters to complete 24,000 international runs in terms of innings:

3) 565 innings – Ricky Ponting

One of the greatest batters of all time, Ricky Ponting took only 565 innings to complete 24,000 runs. He made his international debut in February 1995 in an ODI against South Africa in Wellington. He went on to play 168 Test matches, 375 ODIs and 17 T20Is, scoring a total of 27,483 runs at an average of 45.95 with 71 hundreds and 146 fifties. He also won the 1999 World Cup as a player and the 2003 and 2007 World Cup as the captain.

2) 543 innings – Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar is regarded as one of the greatest batters of all time, and undoubtedly, one of the most familiar athletes in India. He scored 34,357 runs in 664 matches at an average of 48.52 with 100 hundreds and 164 fifties. He was also the Man of the Tournament in the 2003 World Cup and the winner of the 2011 World Cup.

1) 522 innings – Virat Kohli

A modern-day great and one of the finest batters India has ever produced, Virat Kohli completed 24,000 runs on September 8, against Afghanistan in the 522nd innings of his international career. He also brought up his first T20I hundred in that match and 71st hundred across all three formats. Kohli, since his India debut in August 2008, against Sri Lanka, has scored over 8,000 runs in Test cricket, 12,000 runs in ODIs and 3,500 runs in T20Is. He was also part of the Indian team that won the World Cup in 2011.