Virat Kohli now has 8,004 IPL runs to his credit. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter is the first in the history of the T20 tournament to cross the 8,000-run mark.
Virat Kohli, who is the orange cap holder of IPL 2024 with a humongous tally of 741 runs to his credit, bowed out of the tournament after RCB was beaten by Sanju Samson's Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator at Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
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The enormity of Virat Kohli's feat becomes evident when one skims through the list of IPL's leading run scorers. Shikhar Dhawan, who is second in the list behind Kohli, has only 6,769 runs to his credit although the left-hander has also been active since the 2008 inaugural season.
Indian national team captain Rohit Sharma, who comes third, has 6,628 runs to his credit.
Virat Kohli, who has not played for another franchise but Royal Challengers Bengaluru, made 8,004 runs from 233 innings at an average of 38.66. His IPL strike rate is 131.97, and have amassed 272 sixes so far. The Indian batting great has got 55 half-centuries and eight centuries to his credit.
Wednesday's game turned out to be his final game of the season as RCB was knocked out of the tournament by Rajasthan Royals. Opening alongside RCB skipper Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli made 33 runs from 24 balls before being dismissed by Yuzi Chahal. His brief yet steady innings included three boundaries and a sixer.
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CSK's Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is second behind Kohli in the Orange Cap race, has only 583 runs from 14 innings. SRH's Travis Head (533) and RR's Riyan Parag (567) are the only players who have any realistic chance of toppling Kohli from the top of the list, provided their respective teams make it to the summit clash against KKR. However, it seems highly unlikely.
RCB vs RR Eliminator: As it happened
Rajasthan Royals accomplished a nervy chase to stay alive in the tournament with a four-wicket victory over RCB. Electing to field, RR restricted Bengaluru to a below-par 172-8 and returned to chase down the target with one over to spare.
RCB's batting did not click in the eliminator against Rajasthan at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Virat Kohli (33), Rajat Patidar (34) and Mahipal Lomror (32) produced cameos but they still fell short of the 175-run mark after being put into bat. For Rajasthan, Avesh Khan claimed 3-44 while Ravichandran Ashwin conceded 19 runs in his four overs, dismissing the Australian duo of Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell with successive deliveries.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (45) gave Rajasthan a flying start but Bengaluru managed to restrict them to 86-3 at the halfway stage of their innings. Riyan Parag (36) and Shimron Hetmyer (26) got Rajasthan's chase back on track before both fell to Mohammed Siraj in the same over. Rovman Powell hit Lockie Ferguson over his head for a six to seal Rajasthan's victory with an over to spare.
