Bhubaneswar: Records and Virat Kohli seem to go hand in hand. Well in the upcoming five T20 games against New Zealand the Indian skipper is on the threshold of another new milestone.
Kohli needs another 205 runs to reach the figure of 9,000 runs in all forms of T20 cricket including the IPL. Virat’s current tally of runs stands at 8,795 and he needs another 205 to reach the 9,000-run mark. If he does that he will be the first Indian batsman to reach the distinct. No other Indian batsman has so been able to score 9,000 runs in T20 cricket.
In the 78 T20 matches when Kohli has donned national colours, he has scored 2,698 runs at an average of 57.72 and a strike rate of 138.53 – both amazing stats indeed. The rest of his T20 runs have come in the IPL where he plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and in domestic tournaments.
There are five batsmen in the world who have so far scored 9,000 or more runs in T20 cricket. They are Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Brendon McCullum, Shoaib Malik and David Warner. So when he scores another 205 runs, Kohli will be the sixth batsman in the world to achieve the feat.
There are two other Indians who have scored 8,000 or more runs in T20 cricket. One of them Rohit Sharma (8,502 runs) have the chance of catching up with Kohli while the other Suresh Raina (8,392 runs) will probably not do so as he is slowly going towards retirement.
Kohli and some of his teammates hit the gym Thursday for a long and hard session and then went out for lunch at Auckland. They really had an enjoyable time.
See link:
https://twitter.com/imVkohli/status/1219814892170964992
Don’t forget the fact that Kohli is yet to get a T20 international century. If he does so in the five-match series against the Kiwis, he will be the fourth Indian batsman after Rohit, Raina and KL Rahul to achieve the feat. Also the century will be his 42nd as captain taking him past Ricky Ponty’s feat of 41 international hundreds as skipper of the Australian cricket team.
PNN & Agencies