IPL 2024: Virat Kohli becomes 1st Indian batter to reach 12,000 runs in T20 cricket

Virat Kohli took 360 innings to complete 12,000 runs in T20 cricket.

Veteran Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Indian batter Virat Kohli made history as he became the first ever Indian batter to score 12,000 or more runs in T20 cricket. RCB opener achieved this huge feat during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 opener against the defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on March 22.

Kohli is the all-time leading run-scorer in T20Is and the IPL as well. The star batter crossed the landmark in the seventh over by taking a quick single off Ravindra Jadeja.

Kohli reached the 12K runs mark in his 360th T20 innings, making him the second-fastest batter to reach 12000 T20 runs behind Chris Gayle, who reached the milestone in only 343 innings. The RCB opener pushed David Warner down to three, the Australian having achieved the landmark in 368 innings.

Apart from Kohli, five other batters have reached the historic 12,000 runs milestone till now. Chris Gayle, Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard, Alex Hales, and David Warner have scored more T20 runs than Indian superstar Kohli.

Meanwhile, veteran opener Rohit Sharma is closing in on the 12,000-run mark in T20s and could become the second Indian to get to the landmark. Sharma has so far smashed 11,156 runs in 426 T20s and will be aiming to breach the milestone this year.

Cricketers with most runs in T20 cricket

1. Chris Gayle – 14,562 runs in 463 matches

2. Shoaib Malik – 13,360 runs in 542 matches

3. Kieron Pollard – 12,900 runs in 660 matches

4. Alex Hales – 12,319 runs in 449 matches

5. David Warner – 12,065 runs in 370 matches

6. Virat Kohli – 12,000* runs in 377 matches

The 35-year-old Kohli is the only batter in the IPL history to have scored 7,000 or more runs, while also having scored the scored the most hundreds in the prestigious league till now. The legendary batter also holds the record for most runs in a single edition of the IPL (973 runs in 2016) and the T20 World Cup (319 runs in 2014).

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