Stats: Fastest batsmen to complete 3000 runs in IPL

Another day and another milestone for KL Rahul! The right-handed batsman has truly been phenomenal in white-ball cricket in the last couple of years. As a result, he piled up a mountain of runs and shattered many records in the process as well. In Punjab Kings’ first outing in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021’s UAE leg, the swashbuckling batsman became the second-fastest player to complete 3000 runs in IPL, achieving the feat in just 80 innings.

Rahul got to the landmark by reaching the 22-run mark against Rajasthan Royals Chasing 186 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, the PBKS captain went after bowlers from the outset and scored runs all over the park. While he showed respect against the challenging deliveries, he didn’t miss out on sending the ball over the ropes whenever a chance was given. In the process, he also scripted the history books.

Rahul’s IPL journey has been nothing but sensational. Making his debut for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2013, the Karnataka-born cricketer didn’t really burst onto the scenes. In fact, he had a tag of ‘Test Specialist’ at that time. However, Rahul worked on his game and astonishingly became a force to reckon with in limited-overs cricket.

It was the 2016 season where a new avatar of KL Rahul came to the fore. In 14 games, he scored 397 runs at a staggering strike rate of 146.49. While he missed the next season due to an injury, Punjab Kings (Kings XI Punjab then) bought him in the 2018 IPL auction. There was no looking back for Rahul after that he has played one staggering knock after another. He even won the Orange Cap in the 2020 season.

Fastest batsmen to complete 3000 IPL runs:

As mentioned above, KL Rahul is the second-fastest to score 3000 runs in the Indian Premier League. The top spot is occupied by his current PBKS teammate Chris Gayle, who took just 75 innings the landmark. While third-placed David Warner took 94 runs, Suresh Raina got 3000 IPL runs in 103 runs. AB de Villiers jointly hold the fifth spot, getting the milestone in 104 innings.