KEY POINTS

  • Virat Kohli became the first Indian to complete 9,000 T20 runs
  • Overall, Kohli was the seventh batsman achieve the 9,000-mark
  • He achieved the record in Dubai on Monday

Virat Kohli became the first Indian to reach 9,000 Twenty20 (T20) runs during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Capitals (DC) Monday.

Kohli bagged the milestone during his side RCB’s recent loss to DC at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium and as a result, Delhi are now the table-toppers in the IPL 2020.

The RCB skipper came out to bat in the third over of the second innings against DC. In the first delivery of the fourth over, Kohli smashed a boundary off Harshal Patel’s bowling to take his individual score to 10. With that, Kohli completed 9,000 runs in T20 cricket.

The 31-year-old batsman, who is the leading run-scorer in the IPL with 5,545*, was the seventh player overall to touch the 9,000-mark in the shortest format after West Indies’ Chris Gayle (13,296), Kieron Pollard (10,370) of Mumbai Indians, Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik (9,926), former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum (9,922), Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner (9,451) and Australian captain Aaron Finch (9,148).

Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma is close to joining Kohli in the 9,000-club. The Indian vice-captain, having scored 8,818 runs in 333 T20 matches, is less than 200 runs away from the landmark.

With DC’s 59-run win over RCB Monday, Shreyas Iyer’s Delhi have now replaced MI at the top of the IPL 2020 points table. With three wins in five matches, Kohli’s RCB are placed third in the table, ahead of fourth and fifth-placed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) respectively.

Virat Kohli
The inaugural edition of the IPL was played in India in 2008. DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images

Speaking at the post-match interview, Kohli termed DC’s line-up as a balanced side and praised the batters to be fearless.

“Their batting line up is fearless, they have a good balance in the side, their bowling line up is pretty good too and they will be hard to beat, I wouldn't say unbeatable but they are a tough side to beat. Against such sides we have to bring our A-game and top intensity which I don't think we did tonight,” added Kohli in the same interview.

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