If the Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL 2024 opener was being played on a stage instead of the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, there would not have been many takers for the spotlight operator. Who would want to choose between MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli?
A Grand Return to Cricket
Dhoni decided to hand over the CSK captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad a day before the grand opener of the 17th season and is making a comeback to the cricket field after close to 11 months. Kohli, on the other hand, is going to make his first appearance in a cricket match since the India vs Afghanistan T20I earlier this year.
Let’s stay away from that debate and concentrate on Kohli and what he can achieve from the CSK match. For starters, it will be his grand return to cricket after a long break due to the birth of his second child. He skipped the entire five-match Test series against England to spend time with his family. Now he is back and as per Mo Bobat, RCB’s Director of Cricket, Kohli is hitting the ball superbly.
Kohli’s Potential Milestones
“Virat’s in a good place. We all know he’s an absolute champion cricketer. So he’s at a stage of his career, in a stage of his experience now, where most of what he does is pretty hardwired into him. He’s coming in fresh, which is what we’re excited about,” Bobat said at the pre-match press conference.
For RCB, it is very important their best batter is in a good headspace. There has been a lot of talk about his place for the T20 World Cup being in doubt. Kohli would like to end those talks once and for all with a powerful performance in this IPL. And What better than starting on the right note against one of the best teams in the tournament?
Records Virat Kohli Can Break
On Friday, during the match against Chennai, if Kohli scores six runs, he will become the first Indian in history to score 12,000 runs in T20s. As of now, the former Indian skipper, who has played in 376 T20s scored 11,994 runs. He is currently sixth in the list of top run-getters in all T20s behind Chris Gayle, Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard, Alex Hales and David Warner. Kohli, however, is the only one who averages over 40.
He will also become the second fastest to 12000 T20 runs after Gayle, who had reached the feat in 353 runs.
The 35-year-old will also get a chance to become the first Indian batter to smash 100 50+ scores in T20s and third overall. Chris Gayle (110) and David Warner (109) stand above him in the list.
Apart from that, Kohli will get a chance to become the second batter to score 1000 runs against the Chennai-based franchise in IPL. Kohli, who has 985 runs to his name in 31 matches, needs to score just 15 runs to achieve the remarkable feat.
Kohli is also the highest run-getter in IPL of all time. In 237 matches and 229 innings, the India talisman batter has scored 7263 runs at an average of 37.24, with a strike rate of 130.02. His best score is 113. He has scored seven centuries, most by a batter and 50 fifties in his IPL career.
Last season, the legendary batter was the fourth-highest run-getter, piling up 639 runs at an average of 53.25 and a strike rate of 139.82. His best score was 101*. The 35-year-old scored two centuries and six fifties but could not take his side to the playoffs.
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