Published: Apr 25, 2021, 02:20 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 25, 2021, 02:20 PM (IST)
Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar believes Virat Kohli is setting the benchmarks higher for everyone to follow after he completed 6000 runs in the Indian Premier League. Kohli completed the personal milestone during RCB’s last match against Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium. The RCB skipper first completed his 40th IPL fifty and then got to the landmark of 6000 IPL runs, becoming the first-ever batsman to scale the record.
Kohli took 188 innings to get to the milestone as now he has amassed 6021 runs in 196 IPL matches at an impressive average of 38.35 and a strike rate of 130.69. The talisman has also scored five IPL centuries as he has been a consistent performer for RCB over the years.
Meanwhile, the Little Master believes now the other players like Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, who have all breached the 5000-run mark in the IPL will look to get to 6000 runs.
“It stands right at the top, for the simple reason that when you’re the first to get to a particular landmark, you’re setting the bar for others. And now the others will want to get to 6000, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina, who have gone past 5000. They will be looking to get to 6000 because that is what the No. 1 player does,” Sunil Gavaskar said of Kohli’s achievement on Star Sports.
https://twitter.com/RCBTweets/status/1385965204551323652?s=20
On the other hand, Kohli hadn’t contributed much with the bat in the first three matches of IPL 2021 for RCB. The right-hander took his time in the initial phase and played a second fiddle as Devdutt Padikkal took the aggressive role against RR. Kohli finished unbeaten at 72 runs and that knock must have added a lot of confidence to his bag. Gavaskar added that the first is always right at the top and heaped praise on the RCB captain.
“To see the way he got to it was also amazing. He didn’t scratch about; he was hitting the ball fluently. Yes, he took a backseat as he himself said because Devdutt Padikkal was batting so well at the other end. And that’s what opening partnerships are all about.
“Therefore, this feat, as far as the IPL is concerned, I think every time you get to a particular landmark, the first is right at the top,” Sunil Gavaskar added.
RCB will face CSK in their fifth match of the season at the Wankhede Stadium today.
