South Africa’s swashbuckling batsman AB de Villiers broke Sourav Ganguly’s long standing record of being the fastest batsman to reach 8000 runs in one-day international (ODI) cricket. In an ODI match against New Zealand, AB de Villiers crossed the 8000 runs landmark and broke Ganguly’s record after a long gap of 13 years. AB de Villiers took 182 matches to reach 8000 runs while former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly took 200 innings to score the same number of runs.
AB de Villiers is the only batsman to score 8000 ODI runs in less than 200 innings. It took De Villiers 10 years and 205 days to reach this landmark.
Here’s the list of fastest batsmen to reach 8000 runs landmark in ODI cricket:
| Player | Opposition | Ground | Debut | Time | Mats | Inns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB de Villiers (Afr/SA) | New Zealand | Durban | 2 Feb 2005 | 10y 205d | 190 | 182 |
| SC Ganguly (India) | West Indies | Nagpur | 11 Jan 1992 | 10y 302d | 208 | 200 |
| SR Tendulkar (India) | Pakistan | Manchester | 18 Dec 1989 | 9y 172d | 217 | 210 |
| BC Lara (WI) | Australia | St George’s | 9 Nov 1990 | 12y 204d | 216 | 211 |
| MS Dhoni (Asia/India) | New Zealand | Wellington | 23 Dec 2004 | 9y 39d | 243 | 214 |
| Saeed Anwar (Pak) | Sri Lanka | Sharjah | 1 Jan 1989 | 12y 102d | 221 | 218 |
| DL Haynes (WI) | Pakistan | Johannesburg | 22 Feb 1978 | 15y 5d | 220 | 219 |
| RT Ponting (Aus/ICC) | England | Chester-le-Street | 15 Feb 1995 | 10y 128d | 225 | 220 |
| CH Gayle (ICC/WI) | Bangladesh | Dhaka | 11 Sep 1999 | 11y 174d | 226 | 221 |
| ME Waugh (Aus) | West Indies | Melbourne | 11 Dec 1988 | 12y 60d | 230 | 223 |
