The Indian captain in all formats achieved another milestone as he became the third highest run getter in T20 international cricket during yesterday’s T20 match against Sri Lanka played at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. He made 82 in India’s win which helped the Men in Blue to clean sweep Sri Lanka in all formats.
Virat Kohli made his T20 debut in 2010 and since then he has played 50 T20 matches. In the 50 T20 matches so far, he has scored 1830 runs in 46 innings with the best score of 90*. In yesterday’s match, India lost 2 early wickets and then Virat Kohli played a captain’s knock before being dismissed for 82.
His average in the shortest format is 53.82 which shows his consistency. He plays proper cricketing shots which put the opposing team under pressure and also the ability to chase down scores makes him a special batsman in modern day cricket.
Kohli completed 1000 runs while chasing in T20 international cricket. The Indian captain Kohli also overtook Brendon McCullum to become the leading run scorer in chases in T20s. He created the record of scoring the highest runs by an Indian captain during run chases. The previous best was by Suresh Raina of 72 not out against Zimbabwe in 2010.
Virat Kohli becomes the 33rd player and also the fastest to score 15,000 runs in international cricket. His performance in shortest format has been exceptional. In the previous two editions of World T20 tournaments, Kohli was named the man of the series with 319 runs in 6 matches during the 2014 edition and 273 runs in the 2016 edition held in India.
Virat Kohli has scored fifty in T20 format 17 times with 12 times not out. The top two run getters in T20 international cricket are Brendon McCullum of New Zealand with 2140 runs in 71 matches ( 70 innings) and retired TM Dilshan of Sri Lanka with 1889 runs in 80 matches ( 79 innings).
Kohli could become the leading runs scorer in T20 cricket if he continues to perform in the same way.
