Asia Cup 2023: KL Rahul equals Virat Kohli's 12 years old record in ODI cricket

KL Rahul was out of Indian team after suffering an injury in IPL 2023.

In the ongoing Super Four clash between India and Pakistan at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Indian middle-order batsman KL Rahul equaled Virat Kohli's 12 years old feat in One-day Internationals.

India and Pakistan had earlier clashed in the group A encounter in Pallekele in Kandy, and while India got to bat in that match, persistent rain ensured that Pakistan didn’t get to bat as the match ended in a draw.

Pakistan were the first team to qualify for the super 4 stage from group A, and India joined them after defeating Nepal.

In the super four stage encounter, Pakistan won the toss and decided to bowl first, and Babar Azam confirmed that they were using the same starting lineup that had just defeated Bangladesh in Lahore.

On the other hand, Rohit Sharma disclosed that India had made two changes. Mohammad Shami was replaced by Jasprit Bumrah in the starting lineup after he missed the Nepal game to give birth to his child.

When the squad warmed up before the toss, Shreyas Iyer experienced back spasms and was abruptly replaced in the playing XI by KL Rahul, who was making his long-awaited comeback to international cricket.

KL Rahul becomes the joint third fastest Indian to 2000 runs in ODI, equals Virat Kohli’s record

Openers Rohit Sharma (56) and Shubman Gill (58) went after the Pakistani bowlers from the get-go, relieving themselves of the pressure of facing the tough Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Naseem Shah.

Both added 121 runs for the first wicket but then got out in successive overs as well. This brought Virat Kohli and KL Rahul into the middle. The veteran batters rebuilt the innings and played the bowlers to their merit.

During his knock, KL Rahul became the third joint fastest Indian to accomplish 2,000 ODI runs when he took his 14th run in the innings. He accomplished the feat in 53 innings of 55 ODI matches and equaled the record of Virat Kohli.

He is now the joint-third-fastest Indian batter to get the mark (in terms of innings). The record is held by Shikhar Dhawan, who reached the mark in 48 innings, while Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sourav Ganguly attained the feat in 52 innings each.

Here are the Indian batsmen fastest to 2000 ODI runs:

Shikhar Dhawan - 48 Innings

Navjot Sidhu/Sourav Ganguly - 52 Innings

Virat Kohli / KL Rahul  - 53 Innings