South Africa cricket team's legendary batter, Hashim Amla, holds the record for being the fastest to 2000 ODI runs in cricket. The classical Protea batter achieved this milestone in just 40 innings.
Pakistan's Zaheer Abbas held the record since 1983 but it was broken by Amla against India in 2011. It took Amla two years and 318 days to breach the 2000-run mark in ODIs.
Amla, one of the finest strokemakers of the modern era, made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in March 2008. He was prolific in ODIs, which is a fact attested by Amla being the batter to be the fastest ever to score 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, and 7000 runs in ODIs.
He accumulated 8,113 ODI runs in 181 matches at an average close to 50 before calling time on his international cricket career.
Zaheer Abbas, a legend of Pakistani cricket, is second on the list for being the fastest to score 2000 runs in ODI cricket.
The elegant batter reached the milestone in his 45th ODI against India in 1983. He amassed 2,572 runs in 62 ODIs at an average of 47.63 before retiring.
England veteran Kevin Pietersen completes the top three list for being the fastest to 2000 runs in ODIs. The flamboyant batter breached the 2000-run mark in ODI cricket in just 45 innings - the same number of innings as Abbas.
In an ODI against West Indies in 2007, Pietersen equaled Zaheer Abbas' record for being the fastest to score 2000 ODI runs.
Pietersen finished his 50-over career by scoring 4,440 runs in 136 ODIs at an average of 40.73 and hit nine centuries as well as 25 half-centuries.
England's Jonathan Trott, West Indies legends Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge, and India's Shikhar Dhawan also feature in the top 10 list for fastest to 2000 runs in ODI cricket.
West Indies' Shai Hope, and Pakistan's top-order batters Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq complete the top 10 list.
Fastest to 2000 ODI runs
|
Player |
Team |
Time |
Matches |
Innings |
|
Hashim Amla |
South Africa |
2y 318d |
41 |
40 |
|
Zaheer Abbas |
Pakistan |
9y 32d |
45 |
45 |
|
Kevin Pietersen |
England |
2y 144d |
51 |
45 |
|
Babar Azam |
Pakistan |
3y 108d |
47 |
45 |
|
Imam-ul-Haq |
Pakistan |
3y 268d |
46 |
46 |
|
Jonathan Trott |
England |
2y 315d |
49 |
47 |
|
Shai Hope |
West Indies |
2y 172d |
51 |
47 |
|
Viv Richards |
West Indies |
8y 8d |
49 |
48 |
|
Shikhar Dhawan |
India |
4y 20d |
49 |
48 |
|
Gordon Greenidge |
West Indies |
8y 124d |
49 |
49 |
Note: Time is based on the start of the debut match and the start of the match in which the milestone was achieved.
Photo credits: Alamy
