IPL 2021: KL Rahul breaks Virat Kohli’s record to become the fastest Indian to 5,000 T20 runs

KL Rahul reached the mark in his 143rd T20 innings.

KL Rahul, the Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain, became the fastest Indian to 5,000 T20 runs in the ongoing IPL 2021 match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Chennai. He was one run short of the milestone when the match began.

He reached the 5,000-run mark off the very first ball of the match bowled by off-spinner Abhishek Sharma after Punjab won the toss and opted to bat first at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

He broke India captain Virat Kohli’s record by becoming the fastest India to reach the milestone in his 143^rd innings. He beat the long-standing record held by Virat Kohli (167) followed by Suresh Raina (173).

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Rahul is the second-fastest batsman to achieve the feat after his PBKS teammate Chris Gayle, who got to the landmark in 132. Rahul is playing his 143rd innings in this match and just overtook Australian Shaun Marsh, who took 144 innings to score 5000 T20 runs.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t continue long and got out for 4 runs, caught by Kedar Jadhav off Bhuvneshwar Kumar. It was the second failure for the PBKS skipper who had scores of 61, 5 and 91 before this game in IPL 2021.

(India Today inputs)