Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opener Virat Kohli on May 22 became the first batter in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to score 8,000 runs. Kohli who has been in RCB’s squad since the inaugural edition achieved the feat in the IPL 2024 eliminator clash against Rajasthan Royals at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium.
In the sixth over of the innings bowled by Sandeep Sharma, Kohli played a flick short towards wide of mid-on for a boundary to breach the 8,000-run mark. Before the eliminator, he needed 29 runs to reach the milestone.
The next batter on the list is Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shikhar Dhawan. The left-handed batter has scored 6,769 runs from 22 games at an average of 35.25 including two centuries and 51 fifties. Dhawan missed most of the season due to injury and in his absence Sam Curran donned the captaincy hat.
No big knock from Kohli
In the second over, Kohli hit the first boundary of the innings. He hit the first six of his knock against Avesh Khan in the fourth over. After Faf du Plessis' lost his wicket to Trent Boult, Kohli hit two fours to cap off the powerplay overs. In the eighth over, Sanju Samson introduced Yuzvendra Chahal. Kohli tried to dominate Chahal and went for the slogsweep but got caught by substitute fielder Donovan Ferreira on the boundary. He scored 33 runs from 24 balls including three fours and a six.
Kohli leading the orange cap race
The 35-year-old now has 8,004 runs from 252 games at an average of 38.66 including eight centuries and 55 half-centuries. In the ongoing season, he is leading the race for orange cap. From 15 appearances, he has scored 738 runs at an average of 67.09 including one century and five fifties. He is likely to hold on to the cap. The next batters on the list with more than 500 runs are Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) Travis Head, RR's Riyan Parag and Samson.
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