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The Indian cricket team is gearing up for a crucial three-match ODI series against South Africa, starting November 30, 2025. The white-ball leg brings massive excitement as the iconic duo Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli make their much-awaited comeback to the ODI setup after a break. With regular opener Shubman Gill ruled out due to a neck injury, KL Rahul has been handed the responsibility to captain the Men in Blue.
Following a disappointing Test whitewash earlier in the tour, India will be determined to bounce back and assert dominance against a side they recently overcame in the dramatic ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2025 final.
So, before the India vs South Africa ODI series to begin, let's take a look at the top 5 batters with the most runs in India vs South Africa ODIs.
Most Runs in India vs South Africa ODIs | Top 5 List
1. Sachin Tendulkar | 2001 Runs
Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for most runs in ODIs between India vs South Africa. He scored 2001 runs in 57 matches against the Proteas, the only one with over 2,000 runs in this storied rivalry, averaging 35.73. During this period, Sachin scored five centuries and eight half-centuries, including an unbeaten 200-run innings. He was a part of India vs South Africa rivalry from 1991 to 2011, scoring 1453 runs in South Africa alone.
2. Jacques Kallis | 1535 Runs
Jacques Kallis is South Africa's leading run-scorer against India. In 34 innings, Kallis scored 1535 runs, including two centuries and 11 half-centuries. Kallis played his last ODI against India in 2013. Out of the 17 hundreds he scored in ODI cricket, Jacques Kallis got two of them against India. To sum up, Kallis remains South Africa’s most productive ODI batter against India even since a decade of his retirement from the game.
3. Virat Kohli | 1504 Runs
Indian run-machine Virat Kohli's bat always speaks against South Africa. In 29 innings, Virat has scored 1504 runs against South Africa, averaging over 65, the highest among all India vs South Africa ODI players with more than 300 runs to their names. He has scored five centuries and eight half-centuries against South Africa. Kohli made 558 of his 1504 in a single away series against South Africa back in 2018, where his three match-winning hundreds engineered India’s 5-1 series win. Moreover, Kohli’s 558-run tally from that tour remains the highest aggregate by any batter in a single bilateral series by a landslide.
4. Gary Kirsten | 1377 Runs
Former South African opener Gary Kirsten has served as the head coach of the Indian team, lifting the 2011 World Cup. He has played 26 ODIs against India between the years 1995 to 2001, scoring 1,377 runs at an average of 62.59. He scored nine half-centuries and four centuries. His highest score against India was 133* which came in Johannesburg back in October 2001 in the opening match of the 2001 South Africa ODI tri-series.
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5. AB de Villiers | 1357 Runs
In 32 matches, AB de Villiers scored 1357 runs against India at an average of 48.46. De Villiers also holds the record for most sixes in ODIs between the two teams, with 41. Among all players in India vs South Africa ODI matches, no batter has scored his runs even remotely close to the strike rate of 111.13. He got six hundreds against India, including three in a single series from 2015, where he scored 358 runs at an average of 89.50.
