Virat Kohli on the verge of becoming the fastest to 2,000 T20I runs
Indian captain Virat Kohli is on the verge of creating a world record ahead of the first T20I against England at Manchester on Tuesday. The 29-year-old batsman currently has 1,992 T20I runs in 55 innings (59 matches) and is chasing former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum's record of being the fastest to 2,000 T20I runs. McCullum currently holds the record, having got to the mark in 66 innings and Kohli has to score just 8 runs within the next 10 innings to overtake McCullum and claim the record.
Kohli has been in stunning form in T20Is ever since his debut in June 2010. Despite the stop-start nature of the format and the scarce amount of T20Is played in years in which there isn't a World T20, Kohli has been incredibly consistent. His T20I average of 48.58 is the highest among any batsman with over 1,000 runs in the format.
Only three players have ever scored over 2,000 runs in T20Is. Brendon McCullum was the first to achieve it and the second player was another Kiwi batsman as Martin Guptill joined him in the record books before usurping the former Kiwi captain to now hold the record for most runs in the format. However, he took two more innings than McCullum to get to 2,000 T20I runs and currently occupies the second spot on the list.
Extra Cover: Shoaib Malik becomes the first Asian to score 2,000 T20I runs
In the first match of the T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe, Pakistan's Shoaib Malik became the third player and the first Asian to reach the 2,000 run mark in T20Is. While Kohli is just eight runs away from the milestone, another player who could soon get there is Rohit Sharma, who is just 51 runs away and has three T20Is against England to get to the mark.
Irrespective of when he gets it, Rohit cannot break the record for being the fastest to the mark as he has already played 74 innings in the format. But with Kohli just eight runs away and coming on the back of a poor T20I series against Ireland in which he recorded only his second duck in T20Is, the 29-year-old will be keen to make amends and create a world record in the process.
The Indian captain already holds the record of being the fastest to 1,000 T20I runs, having got there in just 27 innings. He broke the previous record of 32, held by Kevin Pietersen (2011) against South Africa at Dharamsala in 2015. Aaron Finch, who got to the milestone in 29 innings is the only other player to have taken fewer than 30 innings to achieve that.
Here is the complete list of the fastest to 2,000 T20I runs (in terms of innings):
1. Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) - 66 innings
2. Martin Guptill (New Zealand) - 68 innings
3. Shoaib Malik (Pak) - 92 innings