IND vs SA 2022: 3 batters who have scored most runs for India in 20th over of T20I innings
India are one of the top T20I teams, both historically and in the present.
The Men in Blue emerged as champions in the inaugural T20 World Cup and have held the number one position in the world rankings for quite some time as well.
Over the years, the Indian team has seen many ups and downs in the shortest format of the game. They made it to the final of the 2014 T20 World Cup and the semifinals of the 2016 T20 World Cup. However, in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2021, the Men in Blue failed to make it into the knockout stages.
Their record shows the unpredictability of the T20 format. Very few players have achieved success consistently in this form of the game.
As evident from both the ups and downs, momentum remains one of the main factors contributing to success in this format. While batting in the first innings, if a team is able to finish things off with some big hits, they carry that momentum in the second innings.
However, if the batting team fails to make the most out of the slog overs, the bowling team will get their confidence back even if they were poor in the initial stages.
The 20th overs of both innings are ultimately quite crucial. Generally, one of the best bowlers in the team is given the responsibility to bowl the final over in a bid to keep the runs scored to a minimum.
Batters aim to score as many runs as possible, but it is not everyone's cup of tea to do so every time. Even when batting second, the batters may make mistakes, not execute their plans in the 20th over and fail to take their team over the line.
In line with this conversation, let's take a look at the three batters who have scored the most runs for India in the final over of an innings.
#3 Virat Kohli - 81 runs
Virat Kohli generally bats in the top-order. Even though he is not a finisher, he has batted well and remained in the middle till the end of the innings on multiple occasions.
Kohli has scored 3,296 runs in his T20I career, with 81 of those coming in the final over of the innings. Kohli has been rested for the ongoing series against South Africa.
#2 Hardik Pandya - 87 runs
Hardik Pandya surpassed Virat Kohli on this list during the third T20I of the ongoing series against South Africa. Heading into this series, Pandya had 68 runs to his name while playing in the final over of a T20I match.
In the first game of the series, Pandya smashed a six and took two runs off Anrich Nortje's bowling. A couple of nights ago in Vizag, Pandya hit two fours and ran three in the last over bowled by Wayne Parnell, taking his overall tally to 87 runs.
#1 MS Dhoni - 251 runs
Former Indian captain MS Dhoni owns the record for the most runs by an Indian player in the 20th over of a T20I innings. Dhoni is the only player to have scored more than 100 runs for the Men in Blue in the final over during his T20I career.
Dhoni ended his career with 251 runs in the 20th over alone. Interestingly, Dhoni also owns the record for the most runs by a player in the 20th over of matches in the Indian Premier League.