Bangalore captain Virat Kohli, on Monday, became the first Indian to score 9000 T20 runs during his side's 197-run chase against Delhi.
The Indian skipper reached the milestone in style, hitting a boundary off Harshal Patel's first over. While he's the first Indian to reach the 9000-run mark, he is still significantly short on a global scale. West Indies' hard-hitting talisman Chris Gayle tops the chart with 13296 runs, with his teammate Kieron Pollard following suit with 10370 runs. Pakistan's Shoaib Malik acquires the third spot (9926), followed by Brendon McCullum (9922), David Warner (9451) and Aaron Finch (9161).
Kohli, who had 8990 runs in T20s at an average of 41.05 and a strike rate of 134 with five hundreds and 65 T20 half-centuries before this game, needed just 10 runs to reach the milestone. And he not only did that, but also became the second-fastest player to reach the mark (271 innings). As one can guess, Gayle is fastest to 9000 T20 runs, having taken a mere 249 innings.
Earlier during the first innings, the Bangalore skipper almost violated the International Cricket Council's (ICC) pandemic protocol. Delhi opener Prithvi Shaw had hit a power shot on the off-side, and Kohli, fielding at short cover, somehow managed to cope with the power, and while he saved important runs for his side, he ended up applying saliva on the ball. He, however, realised his mistake soon after and adjudged the moment with a smile. Former batsman Sachin Tendulkar took a sweet jibe at the captain, saying that his instinct took over.
What an incredible shot by @PrithviShaw there!
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) October 5, 2020
A million dollar reaction by @imVkohli after almost applying saliva on the ball.
Sometimes instincts takeover!😋
RCBvDC #IPL2020
And well, this is not the first such incident in the ongoing Indian T20 League. On Wednesday, during Rajasthan's game against Kolkata, batsman Robin Uthappa was spotted applying saliva on the ball. Earlier in the tournament, Delhi spinner Amit Mishra, who has been ruled out of the Indian T20 League, was also caught on the camera as he applied saliva on his hands and waited for a brief moment to apply it on the ball.
Feature image courtesy: Twitter / @imVkohli
