Rediff

Brisbane, Feb 5: Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman in the history of one-day cricket to cross the 16,000-run mark, a milestone that could be a distant dream for any other player in the near future.

Tendulkar, who scored 35 runs against Sri Lanka in the second tri-series ODI at the Gabba on Tuesday, now tallies 16007 runs, which is far more than Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya's aggregate of 12207, second in the list of all-time top scorers.

The champion batsman from India achieved the feat when he scored his 28th run during the India innings in his 409th match.

Tendulkar seems set to stay at the pinnacle for a long time as Jayasuriya and former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq, who is third in the list with 11739 runs, are not anywhere near.

Next in the list is another Indian, Sourav Ganguly (11363), but with the selectors shutting the ODI door on him, he also does not appear a likely candidate to achieve the feat. He is followed by Australia captain Ricky Ponting (10835) and Rahul Dravid (10585).

Tendulkar, who has scored 11782 runs in Test cricket, is just 172 runs away from displacing legendary Brian Lara and emerging the highest run getter in the longer version of the game as well.