Stats: KL Rahul completes 1000 runs in Twenty20 International cricket

The importance of KL Rahul in the Indian T20I side shows whenever India fall short on making it big during his absence. Despite the fact that Rahul’s natural instincts perfectly suits the T20 format, India have considered the 27-year-old as a regular in T20Is only just. Irrespective of being in and out, Rahul has an impressive record in T20Is and is probably next only to Virat Kohli in terms of consistency.

In the first game of the 3-match T20I series against West Indies, Rahul scored a 40-ball 62 with five fours and four sixes. He made most of the powerplay overs and allowed skipper Kohli to take his time. During this knock, the Karnataka batsman completed 1000 runs in Twenty20 Internationals. He needed 26 runs to reach the milestone ahead of the game and got there with his 2nd six of the innings.

KL Rahul thus became only the 7th player from India to complete 1000 runs in Men’s T20I cricket. Among Indian players, Rahul is the 2nd fastest to achieve the milestone. He needed 29 innings to 1000 T20I runs; two innings more than what Virat Kohli (27) required. Overall, Rahul is only the joint 3rd fastest to complete 1000 T20I runs. Pakistan’s Babar Azam got there in only 26 innings last year by breaking Kohli’s record.

Australia’s Aaron Finch is tied with Rahul on the 3rd spot as he also reached 1000 T20I runs in his 29th innings. Interestingly, KL Rahul began his T20I career with a golden duck against Zimbabwe, a match India lost by two runs. In only his 4th T20I, Rahul smashed an unbeaten 110 but couldn’t take India home as they fell short of a record chase by a 1-run margin.

KL Rahul reached 500 T20I runs in only his 13th innings and looked set towards bigger things. Post last year’s away T20I series against England, Rahul had 696 runs to his credit in 17 T20I innings. Being in and out of the side, the attacking batsman scored only 226 runs in his next 10 innings. Not getting a chance to open also played a role in slowing down his T20I progress.

Fastest to 1000 runs in Twenty20 Internationals:

(Stats as on December 6, 2019)