Virat Kohli is not anywhere near his best in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. However, Kohli is at that stage of his IPL career where he achieves milestones just by staying in the middle. On May 4 at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Kohli became the first batter in IPL history to face 5,000 balls.
With an ordinary knock of 30 off 33 deliveries, which helped him get to the milestone. Before the clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the former RCB skipper needed to five more deliveries to achieve the feat.
Others on list
The closest to Kohli on the list is Punjab Kings (PBKS) opener Shikhar Dhawan. The left-handed batter has faced 4,863 deliveries. Dhawan is also second on the list of highest run-scorers in IPL. He is followed by Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma (4,429 balls), Delhi Capitals (DC) opener David Warner (4,062 balls) and Suresh Raina (4,043 balls).
Ali haunts Kohli again
Kohli got off to a good start but he fell to Moeen Ali for the 11th time across formats. The RCB opener was beaten on the front foot. He tried to work the ball towards the leg side but missed it completely as it hit the leg stump. His knock included three fours and one six.
Opportunity missed
While Kohli achieved one milestone, he missed out on another. Kohli fell short by 21 runs to become the second batter to score 1,000 runs against CSK. The 33-year-old now has 979 runs against the defending champions. Until and unless, CSK and RCB meet each other in the playoffs which looks unlikely, Kohli’s tally of runs against the ‘Yellow Army’ is likely to retain the same.
Strike rate issue
Kohli's strike rate of 111.92 has been concerning in IPL 2022. From 11 games, he has scored 216 runs at an average of 21.60 including one half-century which came in the previous match against Gujarat Titans (GT). He scored 58 runs from 53 deliveries in the innings.
