Who is the all-time leading run-scorer in Cricket World Cups?

Sachin Tendulkar is the all-time leading run-scorer in Cricket World Cup history, with 2,278 runs. He accumulated that total across 45 matches and 44 innings for India between 1992 and 2011.

Tendulkar played in six World Cups, beginning as a teenager in 1992 and ending with India’s triumphant 2011 campaign. His World Cup record includes six centuries and 15 fifties, and he was the leading run-scorer at the 2003 tournament, when India reached the final.

The record is especially notable because Tendulkar’s career spanned several World Cup formats and generations of Indian cricket. He scored 673 runs in the 2003 edition, still one of the greatest individual tournament performances in the competition’s history. India finally won the trophy in 2011, with Tendulkar carried around the stadium by his teammates after the victory.

Virat Kohli is the nearest modern challenger and moved into second place in 2023, passing Ricky Ponting. Kumar Sangakkara and Ponting are also among the leading World Cup scorers, but neither has matched Tendulkar’s career total.