Virat Kohli one run away from surpassing Rohit Sharma as the highest run-getter in T20Is

The Indian team will kickstart their 2020 with a T20I series against Sri Lanka with the first match to be played at the Barsapara Cricket Ground in Guwahati, Assam. This will be the first of the three-match series between the two sides and will see Virat Kohli going into the series with one eye on a world record in the 20-over format.

The last time Sri Lanka toured India in 2017-18, Rohit Sharma had decided to take them to the sword and slammed a double century in ODIs against them, his second against the opposition. While the right-hander from Mumbai also slammed the joint-fastest century in T20I matches at Indore, all while deflating the opposition. However, this time around, Sri Lanka won’t have to worry about Rohit, as he has been rested from the series, but Kohli is someone they might want to be wary about.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the race for the highest run-getter in T20Is  

The year 2019 saw both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli ending with a similar number of runs in the T20I format – 2633. Both had exceptional T20I series in the year and ended on a high against the West Indies. Rohit got to this mark in 104 T20I matches, while Kohli has made the same number of runs in just 75 matches. With no Rohit in action for the T20Is against the Lankans, Kohli looks all set to consolidate the lead at the top spot in the course of the series.

Kohli averages a mindboggling 52.66 in the format’s international version with 24 half-centuries to his name at a strike rate of 138.07 and the highest score of 94*, which came against the Windies recently. Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, had a world record four centuries to his name and the highest score of 118 and 19 fifties as well at a strike rate of 138.21.

The Indian captain made 19 and 70* as India clinched the T20I series 2-1 against Kieron Pollard’s men at home to bring down curtains on a successful 2019 and now he has a chance to make history. As the Men in Blue prepares for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia, his form is crucial to the plans of his team. Meanwhile, India is enjoying a five-match winning streak versus the one-time champions as the Lankans’ last victory over Team India came in early 2016 in Pune.

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