The ‘little master’ completed the feat with the run which also brought him his 79th half-century, in the Future Cup match against South Africa in Belfast.

Tendulkar, right, had put himself within one run of the 15,000 when he pulled Andre Nel for his 160th six at this level. He then scored a single off Nel – and immediately added another four when an errant throw beat the stumps and sped to the boundary in overthrows.

Tendulkar, 34, topped the milestone in the 387th match of a career which started in 1989. Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya is the second top ODI scorer behind Tendulkar with 12,063.

South Africa coach Mickey Arthur insisted that England’s next visitors India are a far stronger team whenever they pick former captain Sourav Ganguly.

Ganguly was not chosen for India’s ODI series in South Africa last year and Arthur believes the chances of Rahul Dravid’s side achieving great things in England are greatly enhanced by the presence of left-handed opener Ganguly.

“Sourav Ganguly in the squad gives a huge amount back to India,” he said. “Sourav still has a presence.”