Updated November 7th, 2018 at 15:55 IST

Rohit Sharma overtakes Virat Kohli to become India's highest run-scorer in T20Is

Rohit Sharma achieved this feat playing his 86th T20I for the Men In Blue, during the second T20 against West Indies.

Reported by: Dylan Dsouza
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Swashbuckling opening batsman Rohit Sharma has added another feather to his cap after he became the highest run-getter for India in the shortest format of the game. By doing so, he also surpassed Virat Kohli who was the previous holder of this record.

The Hitman, as he is fondly referred, achieved this feat playing his 86th T20I for the Men In Blue. Rohit Sharma needed only 11 runs to reach the landmark before the start of the second fixture of the currently on-going T20 series against West Indies. He got to the milestone whacking Oshane Thomas for a six in the fifth over of the game.

The right-handed batsman with 2203 runs to his name has now surpassed Virat Kohli's tally of 2102 runs. While the 31-year-old tops the charts, Suresh Raina (1,605), MS Dhoni (1,487) and Yuvraj Singh (1,177) complete this list of highest run-getters in the shortest format.

While in the overall standings in terms of this record, Rohit Sharma sits at the second spot, followed by New Zealand's Brendon McCullum 2140 runs and Pakistan's Shoaib Malik 2190 runs. New Zealand opener Martin Guptill leads the tally with 2,271 runs.

Rohit Sharma also smashed his fourth T20I century, which is the most by any batsman in the format, to power India to 195/2. He remained unbeaten at 111 in an innings that was laced with eight fours and seven sixes, during his 61-ball stay at the crease.

On the other hand, his fellow opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan reached the 1000 T2O1 runs landmark during the game after the West Indies won the toss and decided to bowl first. Alhough the southpaw managed a sedate 43 runs, he made the perfect anchorman alongside Rohit Sharma to stitch a massive 123 runs partnership for the opening wicket. After Dhawan's dismissal, Rishab Pant too didn't last long but KL Rahul helped Rohit Sharma apply the finishing touches to Indian innings with a 26 of 14 balls.

In reply, the West Indies batting lineup failed to deliver yet again. Khaleel Ahmed ripped through to the openers before Kuldeep Yadav cleaned the tail-enders. However, just like the previous matches, West Indies showed some fight but it was too late in the game to have any effect.

This meant that India registered their second win over West Indies and in the process sealed the three-match series with a 2-0 lead. This also meant that Rohit Sharma added to his tally of most wins as skipper in T20Is.

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Published November 7th, 2018 at 09:44 IST