Ahead of Hamilton T20I, Virat Kohli on the brink of surpassing MS Dhoni’s tally

Virat Kohli’s India have started their T20I sojourn in New Zealand on an emphatic fashion without a doubt. In the five-match series, the Men in Blue are sitting pretty with a 2-0 lead courtesy of comprehensive victories at the Eden Park in Auckland. The visitors are in with a great chance of taking an unassailable lead with the third T20I on January 29 at the Seddon Park in Hamilton.

Though India have been dominant, Kohli, their skipper, is yet to come into his own. He scored in the 40s in the series opener, but didn’t have luck going his way second time around. In the second T20I, the right-hander was caught down the leg-side. In both of India’s triumph in Auckland, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer’s numbers stood out with small, yet useful contributions from the others.

Kohli set for another record

In the meantime, going into the third game, Virat is standing on the threshold of yet another record at the highest level. The 31-year-old is only 25 runs shy of MS Dhoni’s tally as India’s leading run-scorer as captain in T20Is. Faf du Plessis, the former South Africa skipper, has 1,273 runs with New Zealander Kane Williamson and Dhoni having 1,148 and 1,112 runs respectively.

Given the form Kohli has been in, it won’t be a surprise if he breaks the record in the next encounter itself. Apart from Dhoni’s record, Virat is also standing on the verge of an all-time record. He is currently level with Du Plessis and Williamson in the list of most half-centuries as captain in the shortest format. The troika is locked at eight fifties with Virat having an overall tally of 24.

Virat is currently the leading run-scorer in T20Is, having notched 2745 runs in 80 matches at a sunning average of 51.79. The Delhi-born batter also has the most T20I fifties to his name with a top score of an unbeaten 94 against the West Indies in Hyderabad in December 2019.

In the ongoing T20I series, the top three all-time highest T20I runs scorers are plying their trade. Barring Virat, the likes of Rohit Sharma and Martin Guptill, second and third placed respectively, are taking part. However, all three haven’t quite shown their very best.