KL Rahul becomes fastest Indian to score 3000 runs in T20 cricket

There was a time when KL Rahul was thought of as a specialist in the longest format of the game. He was seen as the perfect classical player with sound technique and temperament. But the last two years have been a completely different story. Rahul has cemented his place in the limited-overs setup while being booted out from the Test team due to poor performances. But his exploits in T20 cricket have been exceptional in the past year.

In the shortest format of the game, Rahul completely transformed his game and has emerged as a premier batsman for India and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). Against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Wednesday, Rahul became the fifth fastest batsmen to complete 3000 runs in T20 cricket.

The Karnataka lad looked in great touch as he scored 42 runs from 27 balls laced with eight boundaries to give a good start to KXIP against RCB. Rahul has now scored 441 runs at an average of 55.12 in the IPL this season. He is fourth in the orange cap race behind teammate Chris Gayle and Sunrisers Hyderabad opening pair Jonny Bairstow and David Warner.

Rahul took 93 innings to complete 3000 runs in T20 cricket to become the fastest Indian to that milestone. Shaun Marsh heads the list of the fastest players to 3000 as he needed only 85 innings to complete it. Virat Kohli is the highest run-scorer in the shortest format with 8305 runs at 40.91. MS Dhoni stands third in this list as he has scored 6519 runs in T20s in 311 matches at an average of 39.82.

Rahul, however, could not help his side to victory against RCB. Chasing a mammoth target of 203, KXIP could only manage 185 after losing 7 wickets. They now need to win all their matches to have a chance to qualify for the IPL playoffs. KXIP will play Sunrisers on 29th April at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.