Indian cricketer Virat Kohli becomes highest run-scorer in T20 World Cup

ADELAIDE: Star Indian cricketer Virat Kohli on Wednesday became the all-time leading run-scorer in the men's T20 World Cup history during his team's Super 12 match against Bangladesh, here.

Kohli reached the milestone when he crossed 16 runs in the seventh over of India's innings, going past former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene's record tally of 1016 runs. The Indian batter now has 1065 runs with an average of 88.75 and a strike rate of more than 132.46 in T20 World Cups.

Playing in his fifth T20 World Cup, the 33-year-old became the competition's highest run-getter in only his 23rd innings, having scored 12 half-centuries. In comparison, Jayawardene had played 31 innings to set his record, though he faced fewer balls (754 balls) than Kohli did (773).

After Kohli and Jayawardene, Chris Gayle (965), Rohit Sharma (921) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (897) are at the third, fourth and fifth spot on the list of all-time run-scorers in the T20 World Cup history.

Kohli scored 185 runs in his maiden T20 World Cup in 2012; he was the competition's top-scorer in 2014; and the second highest run-getter in 2016. He was adjudged the Player of the Tournament in the 2014 and 2016 editions, making him the only male cricketer to win the award twice. His six Player-of-the-Match awards are also the most in the tournament's history.

The star batter began the 2022 T20 World Cup on 845 runs and scored two consecutive unbeaten half-centuries — against Pakistan and Netherlands — before being dismissed for 12 against South Africa.

Former India skipper also holds the record for being the highest run-scorer in all T20 internationals, and is ahead of Rohit, Martin Guptill, Babar Azam and Paul Stirling on the list. IANS

KOHLI IN T20 WC (IN NUMBERS)

1065 - Runs scored by Virat Kohli in T20 World Cups across 23 innings.

13 - Fifty-plus scores for Kohli in the T20 World Cup, the most by any batter. The next best is nine each by Chris Gayle (seven fifties and two hundreds, in his case) and Rohit Sharma.

88.75 - Kohli's batting average in the T20 World Cup is by far the highest for any batter in the competition (minimum 10 innings). Michael Hussey (54.62) is the only other batter with an average more than 50 in the tournament's history.

6.7 - Kohli's average of 270.50 in run chases at T20 World Cups is 6.7 times greater than the second best average on this list - Kumar Sangakkara with 40.28 (minimum 10-plus innings). His average rises to 518 in successful chases, where he has seven fifties from only nine innings.

308 - Runs by Kohli against Pakistan, the most any batter scored has against an opponent in T20 World Cups. His four fifties against Pakistan across five innings are the joint-highest against one opposition at T20 World Cups. Kohli averages 308 against Pakistan in the tournament, having been dismissed only once by them.

29.05 - Percentage of India's runs scored by Kohli in matches he's featured in at the T20 World Cup. No other player to have featured in 20-plus games in the competition has scored more than a quarter of their team's runs. The next highest on the list is Jayawardene with 22.3%.

199.03 - Kohli's batting strike rate at the death overs (17-20) in T20 World Cups. Only two other batters who've scored 100-plus runs at the death have a strike rate higher than Kohli in this phase - AB de Villiers (230.92) and Jos Buttler (206.94). Kohli has an average of 103.50 in the death overs and has been dismissed by a bowler only once - Shaheen Afridi in 2021.

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