Virat Kohli on Wednesday bagged another incredible feat in his illustrious career for India, becoming the leading run-getter in the history of men’s T20 World Cups. The player smashed another brilliant half-century in the game against Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval to celebrate the feat.
The 33-year-old made an unbeaten 64 off 44 balls in India’s close-fought victory in the Super 12s stage of the competition. Kohli surpassed Sri Lankan batting great Mahela Jayawardene when he hit the 26th run of his stay in the middle. He ended the day with an unmatched tally of 1065 runs from 23 innings at the T20 World Cup, averaging 88.75 with a strike-rate of 132.46.
Jayawardene, retired back in 2015, is at second in the list now with 1,016 runs from 31 innings. Following him in the list is the mighty former West Indies opener Chris Gayle (965), Kohli’s experienced teammate Rohit Sharma (921) and former Sri Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan (897). Among active players, outside Kohli and Rohit, Australia’s top-order stalwart David Warner is the third-highest run-maker with 781 runs from 33 innings.
Warner was named the ‘Player of the Series’ for top-scoring in Australia’s successful surge to their maiden men’s T20 World Cup title last year in UAE. It’s a feat Kohli achieved twice in 2014 and 2016 without going on to bag the silverware with the Indian side.
During the 2014 T20 World Cup played on dry pitches in Bangladesh, he made 319 runs from his six innings at an average of 106.33 and a strike-rate of 129.14, including a match-winning 77 not out in the semifinal versus South Africa.
In the following iteration of the competition in India, Kohli dominated his way to 273 runs from five innings at a strike-rate of 146.77 while striking at 136.50. His tally featured three fifties, including an unbeaten 89 off 47 in the semifinal against the West Indies.
The great batter has the chance to add to his existing overall T20 World Cup tally in Australia, where he has collected three fifties from four matches already and will be facing Zimbabwe in India’s final Super 12s game on Sunday before the semifinals.
