Joe Root Becomes First Englishman to Score 8,000 ODI Runs
Joe Root became the first Englishman to score 8,000 ODI runs in the third match of the Pakistan ODI tri-series against Sri Lanka at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday, October 22. He is the 34th player overall to reach the milestone, according to ESPNcricinfo.
Root arrived in the match needing 64 runs, after scoring 33 in England's 87-run defeat to Pakistan on Tuesday. He had started the tri-series 97 runs short of the mark, with 7,903 runs. Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to field. Tom Banton scored 50 and Ben Duckett 29 before both fell to Dunith Wellalage, which left Root and captain Harry Brook together with England on 102 for 2 in the 18th over. Root passed 8,000 in the 37th over of the innings, in his 197th ODI and 186th innings. That is quicker than Sourav Ganguly, who needed 200 innings to reach 8,000 runs.
Root was dismissed for 69 off 66 balls, with eight fours, when he was caught by Wellalage off Asitha Fernando with England on 244 for 3. Brook then went on to score a century off 75 balls.
No other England batter has scored even 7,000 ODI runs. Eoin Morgan is a distant second with 6,957 runs in 225 matches, and Jos Buttler is third on 5,678 in 204 matches. Root was already England's leading run-scorer in the format, and in 2025 he became the first Englishman to reach 7,000 ODI runs. He averages above 50, the highest among England batters with more than 2,900 ODI runs.
Root made his ODI debut in January 2013 against India in Rajkot. He has scored 4,107 runs in 102 home ODIs at an average of 51.33, more than 3,000 runs away from home and around 800 at neutral venues. He is also England's highest run-scorer at No. 3 in ODIs, well ahead of Jonathan Trott on 2,585. Since the 2023 World Cup, he has scored 1,381 runs in 24 matches at an average of 72.68, and he came into the tri-series having scored 573 runs in nine ODI innings in 2026 at an average of 114.60.
The 35-year-old is also England's leading run-scorer in Tests, with 14,278 runs in 169 matches and 41 centuries. The tri-series ends with a final in Lahore on October 31.