In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 opener against defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Virat Kohli became the first Indian to cross the 12,000-run mark in T20 cricket.
Before the IPL 2024 season opener, Kohli needed six runs to achieve the massive milestone. He achieved the milestone in the seventh over of the innings with a single off Ravindra Jadeja.
Kohli is the second-fastest to 12,000 runs in T20s. The record belongs to Kohli's former RCB teammate Chris Gayle who took 345 innings. Kohli achieved the milestone from 360 innings.
Batters who scored 12,000 runs in men's T20 cricket before Kohli -
14562 - Chris Gayle
13360 - Shoaib Malik
12900 - Kieron Pollard
12319 - Alex Hales
12065 - David Warner
Kohli also became the second batter to score 1,000 or more runs against CSK. Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shikhar Dhawan has 1,057 runs against CSK. He has more than 1,000 runs against Delhi Capitals as well.
Kohli is the leading run-scorer in IPL and T20I cricket. He is the only batter to score more than 7,000 runs in IPL.
Kohli fails to anchor RCB's innings
The 35-year-old did not get enough strike in the powerplay overs. He got to play just six balls during the fielding restrictions. he did not score a single boundary in the first nine overs. In the 10th over, he hit Maheesh Theekshana for a maximum over deep mid-wicket. In the 12th over, Mustafizur Rahman got his wicket. Kohli went for a big shot but Ajinkya Rahane put in a slide to take the catch and lobbed it to Rachin Ravindra before touching the boundary rope. He scored 21 runs from 20 balls.
Mustafizur took four wickets to get rid of skipper Faf du Plessis, Rajat Patidar, and Cameron Green.RCB were 78/5 in the 12th over. Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik helped RCB recover and finish with a flourish. They shared a 95-run partnership. Rawat scored 48 runs from 25 balls including four fours and three sixes. Wicketkeeper-batter Karthik remained unbeaten for 26-ball 38 featuring three fours and two sixes.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
Ex-SRH coach warns all IPL teams of 'Virat Kohli' threat, says 'when he does that, he's unstoppable'
