Virat Kohli: Fastest to score 1,000 runs in T20 Internationals

In the first T20I against South Africa at Dharamsala, Virat Kohli broke the record of being the quickest to 1,000 T20 International (T20I) runs in terms of innings. Bharath Seervi highlights Kohli’s record and related statistics regarding 1,000 runs in T20Is.

The Gandhi-Mandela series 2015-16 has started off with several records. The first T20I between India and South Africa at Dharamsala witnessed several. One of the most important was Virat Kohli getting to 1,000 T20I runs in the fewest innings in history. Kohli hit a six off Imran Tahir to get to this milestone. READ: Virat Kohli completes 1,000 T20I runs during 1st T20I between India and South Africa

Add Cricket Country as a Preferred Source

Kohli is also the first Indian to complete 1,000 T20I runs. India played her first T20I match in 2005-06 but Kohli made his debut in this shortest format of the sport only in 2010 but got to the milestone before everyone.

Overall, Kohli is the 20th batsman to complete 1,000 T20I runs. He did it in just his 27th innings — 5 fewer than the previous record holders, Kevin Pietersen and Alex Hales, who got there in their 32nd innings. Kohli has been shattering records in ODIs, and seems to be doing the same in T20Is.
The first batsman to complete 1,000 runs in T20Is was Brendon McCullum on May 4, 2010 against Zimbabwe. Of the 20 batsmen to this feat, 18 have got there since 2012. Let us list the men who completed 1,000 T20I runs:

Batsmen with 1,000 runs in T20 Internationals: Chronological order

–    Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan completed their 1,000 runs in the same T20I.

–    Hamilton Masakadza and Kohli reached the milestone in consecutive T20Is.

Number of innings required to complete 1,000 T20I runs

–    Only two Englishmen have scored 1,000 T20I runs, and both required same innings (32) — the record for the fastest to the mark before Kohli bettered it.

–    It is interesting that Kohli took just 27 innings to score 1,000 T20I runs whereas the likes of AB de Villiers and Shahid Afridi took twice the number of innings. Shoaib Malik also took more than twice the number of innings by Kohli.

–    Jayawardene and Dilshan reached 1,000 runs in the same match and in the same number of innings.
Kohli averages 46.13 after the match — the most in T20Is when a batsman reached 1,000:

Batting average at the end of 1,000 runs in T20Is

–    Hales, Pietersen and McCullum are the only others barring Kohli who averaged more than 35 after when they reached 1,000 T20I runs.

–    Afridi and de Villiers had the lowest averages.

Kohli’s average of 46.13 is also the highest among all who batted at least 15 T20I innings. Faf du Plessis is next (809 runs at40.45 from 25 innings).

Kohli is on a roll, and seems unstoppable as of now. Let us wait for more records to be broken by him!

(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)