India vs England: Virat Kohli becomes first to achieve THIS massive T20 record

Virat Kohli now leads the run-scoring charts in T20Is with 3,001 runs from 87 T20I matches at an average of 50.86.

Virat Kohli has now become the highest run-scorer in T20 international cricket. (Photo: PTI)

Indian captain Virat Kohli on Sunday (March 14) became the first batsman to score 3,000 runs in T20 international. Kohli achieved the milestone during the second T20I against England here at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.  

The skipper was just 72 runs behind from touching the landmark figure and with his unbeaten knock of 73 runs – which helped India register an emphatic seven-wicket win – he crossed the 3,000-run mark.  

Kohli now leads the run-scoring charts in T20Is with 3,001 runs from 87 T20I matches at an average of 50.86. New Zealand’s Martin Guptill is second on the list of leading run-getters in T20I cricket, having scored 2,839 runs in 99 matches at an average of 32.36. India’s Rohit Sharma comes third in the list with 2,773 runs in 108 matches.  

Who else could it have been?@imVkohli became the first player to score 3000 runs in men's T20Is last night #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/iK87PmnCNF — ICC (@ICC) March 15, 2021

Kohli had a modest Test series against England by his high standards and he would want to change that in the limited-overs leg against the visitors. He is tied with former Australian captain Ricky Ponting for the record of most centuries by a captain in international cricket and would love to make the record his own by slamming a ton in the remaining three T20Is. It is a format where he still doesn’t have a century in international cricket. 

Indian opener Rohit Sharma in comparison has four centuries in this format – a world record but the average of both Guptill and Rohit Sharma pales in comparison to Kohli’s mammoth average in T20Is. 

Apart from Kohli, it was debutant Ishan Kishan’s innings that helped India chase down the target of 165 runs in the 19th over of their innings. Kishan (56) scored a magnificent half-century on his debut. With this win, the hosts levelled the five-match series 1-1. The third T20I between India and England will be played on Tuesday. 

(with ANI inputs)