RCB vs SRH: Royal Challengers Bangalore kicked off the 19th season of the Indian Premier League with a victory. They handed Sunrisers Hyderabad a crushing six-wicket defeat. At one point, it seemed as though Sunrisers Hyderabad might win the match, but a magnificent and explosive innings by Virat Kohli dashed their hopes.
In the very first match, Virat Kohli played a splendid innings of 69 runs, a performance that has sparked immense excitement among fans. Following this innings, Virat Kohli also etched a significant piece of history to his name. In terms of total runs scored in the T20 format, he has surpassed even Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik. Kohli has now climbed to the 6th position on the list of highest run-scorers at the T20 level.
Virat Kohli Overtakes Shoaib Malik
In the very first match of the IPL season, playing for RCB, Virat Kohli faced 38 deliveries to craft an explosive, unbeaten innings of 69 runs. He constructed this innings with the help of 5 fours and 5 sixes. During this innings, Virat Kohli moved ahead of Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik.
RCB secured a six-wicket victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Before this match, Virat Kohli had 13,543 runs to his name, while Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik stood at 13,571 runs. Kohli surpassed Shoaib Malik the moment he reached a score of 29 runs. This marked Virat Kohli’s 415th T20 match; across 398 innings, his total run tally has now reached 13,612.
Virat boasts an average of 42.12. His record includes 9 centuries and 106 half-centuries. In contrast, regarding Shoaib Malik, he made his T20 debut in 2005 and played his final match in 2025. Over this period, across 557 matches, he scored 13,571 runs at an average of 35.99. It includes 83 half-century innings. The record for scoring the most runs in T20 cricket is held by Chris Gayle. Virat Kohli has moved up to the sixth position in terms of the highest run-scorers.
Kohli Completes 4,000 Runs While Chasing
Virat Kohli, who has established a reputation in the cricketing world as a “run machine,” has achieved a major milestone in IPL run chases as well. He now has 4,000 runs to his name while chasing. While batting in pursuit of a target set by an opposing team, he has scored 4,027 runs across 125 IPL matches at an average of 41.51.
His highest individual score stands at an unbeaten 108 runs. Following Kohli on this list is David Warner, who has 3,285 runs to his name at an average of 139. Apart from Virat and Warner, Rohit Sharma is the only other player to have scored over 3,000 runs while chasing.
