RCB's Virat Kohli achieves another incredible feat with 29-ball 47 against CSK at Chinnaswamy

Virat Kohli added another feather to his cap with his knock of 47 off 29 deliveries during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) crucial encounter against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday.

The batting superstar is the owner of multiple records both at the international level as well as in the IPL and added another one to his collection during the virtual ‘Eliminator’ between the two southern rivals.

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Not only is Kohli the leading run-scorer in the IPL and also holds the record for most runs scored in a single edition, he also went past 3,000 runs at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium to become the first player to score 3,000 or more runs at a single venue in the IPL. He achieved the feat with a six off Tushar Deshpande in the third over that took his score to 12.

Former Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma is the only other player to have scored 2,000 or more runs at a single venue in the IPL, having scored 2,295 runs at the Wankhede Stadium. Kohli’s former RCB teammate AB de Villiers is third on the list with 1,960 runs at the Chinnaswamy.

Kohli has represented Royal Challengers Bengaluru since the inaugural edition in 2008 and has represented them in 251 games — having become the fourth individual to make 250 or more appearances in the league after MS Dhoni (264), Rohit Sharma (257) and Dinesh Karthik (256).

Nearly half of those appearances have taken place at the Chinnaswamy, which is traditionally happy hunting ground for batters with its short dimensions, so it was only a matter of time before Kohli went past the 3K mark at RCB’s home ground.

Kohli also became the first batter to go past 700 runs this season, finishing with 708 runs at the end of the league stage from 14 appearances at an average 64.36 and a strike rate of 155.60, scoring a century and five half-centuries along the way.

The former India and RCB captain however, would have achieved another milestone on Saturday had he added another 29 runs against CSK. Not only would that have brought up his sixth half-century of the season, it would have also made him the first batter in IPL history to breach the 8,000-run mark.

Kohli was ultimately dismissed by a pair of Kiwis, with Daryl Mitchell completing an excellent juggling catch at the edge of the long on boundary after the opening batter attempted to smash left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner down the ground for a maximum, with the hosts losing their first wicket with 78 on the board.