Sports / Rohit Sharma goes past Virat Kohli's T20I world record run tally

India batsman Rohit Sharma surpassed Virat Kohli to reclaim his top spot in the highest run-getter list in T20Is across the world. The 30-year-old, who is leading India in the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh as captain, with Kohli being rested, came out to open the innings for his side in the first T20I in New Delhi on Saturday. He hit two boundaries before getting dismissed for 9.

In doing so, Sharma extended his total T20I runs to 2,452, and now he is 2 runs past Kohli, who has 2,450 runs in the format, so far. Martin Guptill (2,326), Shoaib Malik (2,263) and Brendon McCullum (2,140) are at third, fourth and fifth place in the list.

Rohit also achieved another massive feat when he took the field against Bangladesh on Sunday. He surpassed former India captain MS Dhoni to become the most capped Indian player in the shortest format. While Rohit is playing his 99 T20Is since making his debut at the World T20 in 2007, Dhoni has so far played 98 T20Is.

Overall, the Mumbai batsman moved to the third place in the list of players with most T20I appearances after Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik (111) and Shahid Afridi (99).

After losing the toss and being asked to bat, India captain Rohit Sharma explained the team selection at the toss: “We would have bowled first as well considering the dew factor here. Our record chasing is good as well. Nevertheless, we want to change ourselves, that has been a concern over the overs. Batting first and defending it later,” he said.

“The pitch looks slightly sticky, we need to assess and see what will be a fighting score. This gives us an opportunity to test out few players from the domestic circuit. It’s their best chance to grab the opportunity. We are trying to stick with the same combination. Two medium pacers and Shivam is the all-rounder that gives us the balance,” he further added.