Virat Kohli
began the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) by crossing another milestone in his remarkable career, as he completed 12,000 runs in T20 cricket during the inaugural match of the season between
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
and Chennai Super Kings.
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Kohli, whose tally of T20 runs stood at 11,994 runs before the start of the match on Friday, required six runs to reach the landmark.
Kohli didn’t find the going easy as wickets fell around him following a cameo by RCB skipper and fellow opener Faf du Plessis (35 off 23 balls) in an opening partnership of 41. But RCB slipped to 42/3, requiring Kohli to hold the fort.
Kohli faced only eight deliveries in the first seven overs.
He eventually completed his 12,000 T20 runs with a couple off the ninth ball he faced in the next over bowled by CSK’s Sri Lankan skipper Maheesh Theekshana.
The former India captain, who recently welcomed the arrival of his second child, achieved the feat in his 377th T20 match and 360th innings. He has scored 8 centuries and 91 fifties so far in T20 cricket.
Among those numbers, Kohli has scored 4037 runs in T20 internationals for India, including one century. The rest of the runs have come while playing for his state team Delhi, Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
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Rohit Sharma is the next best Indian in the list with a tally of 11,156.
The list is headed by former West Indies opener Chris Gayle, who has scored 14,562 runs in T20 cricket. Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik is next in the list with 13,360 runs, followed by another West Indian Kieron Pollard with 12,900 runs.
Kohli is No. 6 on the list.