Former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene walked into record books after registering 12,000 ODI runs during his 118-run knock in the third match against India at the Raijv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal, in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Putting up a rescue act for the visitors in a must-win game of the five-match series, Jayawardene joined the elite company of greats including Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara.
Scoring his 17th ODI century, Jayawardene, 37, achieved the feat in his 426th ODI at an average of 33.01. The top-order batsman has also represented Sri Lanka in 149 Test matches.
The Colombo-born player, who made his debut in 1997 against India at his home ground, still continues to be Sri Lanka's mainstay even after 17 years of his illustrious career.
India's cricket icon Tendulkar though leads the list with 18,426 runs to his credit in his 463 ODIs during his 24-year long career.
Jayawardene can still play catch up with teammate Sangakkara, who is fourth in the list with 12,918 runs in 382 ODIs.
Former Australian skipper Ponting (13,704 runs) is second in the chart while ex-Lankan Jayasuriya (13,430) stands a close third.
Coming in at No 4, Jayawardene combined with Tillakaratne Dilshan to stitch up a 105-run partnership and give some respectability to the visitior's total.
The sporting Uppal crowd not only stood up to Jayawardene's extra-ordinary feat, which came in the 43rh over off Ravichandran Ashwin, but also gave a standing ovation to the star batsman as he walk back post his marathon innings.
The ever-dependable Jayawardene has accumulated 165 runs in the three ODIs so far.
