Ahmedabad: Indian batter Virat Kohli became the first and only player to score 8,000 runs in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) during Eliminator cgalsh between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Wednesday.
Kohli, 35, has been writing history in the ongoing IPL as he recently became the first and only player to score 3,000 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. That was the first time a player scored 3000 or more runs at a single venue across 17 seasons.
The 35-year-old is having his second-best season in terms of runs as he is currently the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 741 runs in 15 innings. He holds the record for scoring the most runs (973) in a single IPL edition during the 2016 season.
RCB had lost the first seven of their eight matches of the tournament but their remarkable six-match win streak saw them qualifying for the playoffs after beating Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in one of the best and most memorable matches of the ongoing edition.
Kohli’s form was the catalyst behind RCB’s win streak however the 35-year-old couldn’t perform in the qualifier against Rajasthan as he departed after scoring 33 off 24 balls with four boundaries.
Remember, the winner of this match will play Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the second Qualifier at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
It is worth mentioning that RCB have never won the IPL despite having legends of T20 cricket like Chris Gayle, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Kohli and others.
Playing XIs
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Rajat Patidar, Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Siraj, Lockie Ferguson