Record-breaking Virat Kohli achieves iconic milestone in T20I cricket

Virat Kohli continues to shatter the record books as on Sunday the Indian skipper became the first-ever player to score 3000 international runs following his unbeaten 73 off 49 deliveries in the second T20I against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.  

Courtesy half-centuries by debutant Ishan Kishan and Kohli, India chased down a target of 165 runs in 17.5 overs to equalise the five-match series 1-1. 

Kohli, who was 72 runs away from the iconic landmark of scoring 3000 T20I runs, hammered an unbeaten 73 to become the first-ever player to amass 3000 T20I runs. The Indian skipper finished the match off in style with two glorious strokes – a flicked boundary and a pulled six off Chris Jordan. 

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The Indian skipper now has scored 6001 runs in 87 T20Is since making his debut in Zimbabwe in 2010. He now is the only player to have an average of 50+ in all three formats of the game. 

Moreover, Kohli is also the leading run-scorer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with as many as 5878 runs in 192 matches. 

Kohli, who recorded a duck in the first T20I against England, said he shifted his focus back on the basics of the game after having a chat with former South Africa captain and RCB team-mate AB de Villiers before the match. 

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“I had to shift the focus back to the basics of the game and I always take pride in doing the job for the team. Just kept my eyes on the ball and my wife is here and she keeps telling me a lot of things about what I need to do. We have great management that keeps us in the right space. And also I had a special chat with ABD before the start of the game and he just told me to watch the ball. That's exactly what I did,” Kohli said in the post-match presentation.