Virat Kohli became the first batsman in Indian Premier League (IPL) history to complete 9,000 runs during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s match against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday.Kohli needed just 11 runs to reach the historic milestone with a single off the last ball of Axar Patel’s sixth over.The RCB batsman is the highest run-scorer in the history of the tournament and has now become the first player to touch the 9,000-run mark.
Prior to the match, Kohli had scored 8,989 runs in 274 matches and 266 innings with eight centuries and 66 fifties at an average of 39.95 and a strike rate of 133.76. His highest IPL score was 113 not out.This season too, Kohli has been among the most consistent batsmen for RCB. Prior to the Delhi Capitals game, he was sixth in the Orange Cap standings with 328 runs in seven matches at an average of 54.66 and a strike rate of 162.18, including three half-centuries and a career-best 81 runs.Kohli has also been RCB’s most reliable batsman while chasing the target.Since the 2023 IPL season, he has fallen into single figures only once in 21 pursuits, scoring 1,087 runs at an average of 72.46 and a strike rate of 155.5 with one century and 11 fifties.He has scored 600-plus runs in each of the last three IPL seasons since 2023 and looks set for a fourth consecutive 600-plus campaign.Earlier, Royal Challengers Bengaluru bowled out Delhi Capitals for 75 runs, their lowest score of the season, in their IPL match here on Monday.Opting to bowl, the pace duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/5) and Josh Hazlewood (4/12) shared seven wickets, while Rashikh Salam Dar (1/21) and Sewesh Sharma (7/7) also chipped in.For DC, Abhishek Poral (30), David Miller (19) and Kyle Jamieson (12) brought some respectability to the total with 8 for 6 in the fourth over.
