IPL 2021: Virat Kohli 71 Runs Away From Becoming First Indian To Score 10,000 T20 Runs

With Virat Kohli taking the field in any game these days, there is often a milestone on the horizon. When, on Monday, should the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain come in to bat against the Kolkata Knight Riders during their IPL 2021 game in Abu Dhabi, he will be starting with 71 runs short of the 10000-run landmark.

Anytime should he get it, be it against KKR or in later matches, he will be the first Indian batsman to cross the 10000-run milestone in the shortest format.

Currently, he has scored 9929 T20 runs while representing India, Indians, RCB, Delhi (in domestic cricket), at an average of 41.71 and striking at 133.95. He has struck 5 T20 centuries – all in the IPL – and 72 fifties.

Swashbuckling West Indies opener Chris Gayle lead the T20 runs tally, unsurprisingly, having amassed 14,261 runs, followed by Kieron Pollard, Shoaib Malik, and David Warner. Amongst Indians, Mumbai Indians captain and India vice-captain Rohit Sharma is behind Virat Kohli with 9315 runs.

Virat Kohli to step down as RCB captain after IPL 2021

Virat Kohli, on Sunday, announced that he will be stepping down from the role of RCB captain after the IPL 2021. This comes in a few days after he had announced he would be giving up India’s T20I captaincy at the end of the T20 World Cup which will follow the IPL.

Virat Kohli, who will turn 33 in November, has been a part of RCB since the inception of the IPL in 2008 and became the regular captain in 2013. He led the franchise to the final in 2016 but lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The right-hander again cited his workload management as the reason for these two decisions.

“I spoke to the management this evening, something that was on my mind for a while, as I recently announced stepping down from [India] T20 captaincy as well to manage my workload, which has been immense over the last so many years,” he said in a video uploaded by the franchise.

RCB are currently sitting at the third position in the points table with 5 wins and 2 losses from the first half of the season.

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