KL Rahul seriously enhanced his image as a T20 batsman after achieving a significant milestone in fashion. On Sunday (May 18), in a classy half-century against Gujarat Titans, the Indian opener became the quickest player to reach 8,000 runs in T20 cricket.
Starting the innings, Rahul began aggressively, sending Mohammed Siraj for two fours in the first over itself. Though his run-scoring rate slumped marginally in the next three overs—despite some initial pitch movement—he kept calm while working under the strike rate of 100.
Rahul found his pace again in the fifth over, hooking two sharp boundaries which renewed the innings. But his actual acceleration was against Kagiso Rabada, who was returning to the bowling crease. Rahul hit a six over the long leg boundary and then an exquisite cut off the covers. Not resting, he slammed a straight six down the ground—his second of the innings.
The milestone was achieved when Rahul hit a six to go over the 8,000-run mark in T20s, doing so in a mere 224 innings. This placed him only behind the great Chris Gayle (213 innings) and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (218 innings) among the fastest to the milestone in the world.
Fastest to 8000 T20 Runs:
213 innings – Chris Gayle
218 innings – Babar Azam
224 innings – KL Rahul
243 innings – Virat Kohli
244 innings – Mohammad Rizwan
This feat also propelled Rahul ahead of Virat Kohli, who was the previous fastest Indian to have reached the 8,000-run barrier in T20s. Kohli had reached there in 243 innings—19 more than what Rahul achieved—demonstrating the latter's unparalleled consistency and run-scoring ability in the shortest of formats.
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