India vs England: Virat Kohli close to THIS massive record in T20 cricket

The Indian skipper Virat Kohli needs only 72 more runs to become the first batsman to complete 3,000 runs in T20 international cricket. Kohli currently has 2,928 runs with 25 half-centuries and a top-score of 94 not out.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli at a training session in Ahmedabad, ahead of the first T20 against England. (Source: Twitter)

Indian skipper Virat Kohli is one of the rare batsman in international cricket who averages more than 50 in all three formats of the game. Kohli has an average of 52.37 in Tests, 59.31 in ODIs and 50.48 after 85 T20 internationals till date. 

Team India will begin their final stretch to the T20 World Cup later this year at home with a five-match series against England beginning on Friday (March 12). Kohli will march into his 86th T20Is on the cusp of a massive record. 

The Indian skipper needs only 72 more runs to become the first batsman to complete 3,000 runs in T20 international cricket. Kohli currently has 2,928 runs with 25 half-centuries and a top-score of 94 not out. 

Kohli, who had a modest outing in four-match Test series, has a strike-rate of 138.43 in T20 cricket and is the leading run-getter in this format of the game. New Zealand’s Martin Guptill, who was in sparkling form in the five-match T20 series against Australia, holds the second place in the run-getter's tally while Indian opener Rohit Sharma is in third place. 

Rohit Sharma needs 227 runs to reach the mark but given the kind of form he is in and his penchant for big scores in the format, he could challenge Virat Kohli for the record. The fact that Rohit Sharma opens and Virat Kohli comes in at No. 3 also gives the former an edge. 

India vice-captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday said his team is not seeing the upcoming five-match series against England as a dress rehearsal for the T20 World Cup at home later this year and remains focussed on winning it. 

“We don’t see it as any rehearsal ... We are not thinking too far ahead and focusing on winning the series,” Rohit Sharma said ahead of the series opener here on Friday.