Ravi Shastri names a batsman who can break Virat Kohli's record of 973 runs in an IPL season

Ravi Shastri names a batsman who can surpass Virat Kohli's record of most runs in a single season of IPL

Former India coach, Ravi Shastri, has tipped Gujarat Titans opener, Shubman Gill, to break the record for most runs in a single season of the Indian Premier League, which is currently held by Virat Kohli. Kohli scored an impressive 973 runs during the 2016 season of the league, with an average of 81.08 and a strike rate of over 152. Kohli also smashed 4 hundreds and 7 fifties during that season.

Following Kohli in the list of top-scorers in a single season are Jos Buttler and David Warner, with 863 and 848 runs respectively.

Opening position a key factor in breaking IPL records, says Ravi Shastri

In a recent #AskStar session, Ravi Shastri stated that Shubman Gill has the potential to surpass Kohli's record. Shastri added that opening the batting can greatly aid in scoring extra runs, further supporting his pick for Gill to potentially break the record.

“He (Gill) has to be an opening batsman, because only then will he get many opportunities to score runs. I feel, it is Subhman Gill because he is in good form and also because he plays top of the order. So he will get good number of opportunities to score runs.

“The pitches are good, so if he can score 80-100 runs consecutively in two or three innings, then at that point of time only he will already have 300-400 runs.

“According to me, it is very difficult to break the record, because 900 plus runs is huge but one thing is opening batsmen will get two extra matches and two extra innings, so opening batsmen can only break this record if it is possible," Shastri said.

Shubman Gill becomes second youngest player to reach 2,000 runs in IPL

Shubman Gill achieved a milestone on Sunday as he became the second youngest player to score 2,000 runs in IPL. In 77 matches played so far, Gill has scored 2,016 runs with an average of 32.52 and a strike rate of 126.24. Gill had an impressive run of form in the international format prior to the IPL and will be looking to carry forward his momentum in the ongoing season. In the current IPL season, he has already scored 116 runs in 3 matches with a strike rate of 145, and is expected to give a strong performance in the upcoming matches.