Kings XI Punjab skipper KL Rahul broke batting stalwart Sachin Tendulkar’s 8-year-old record to become the fastest Indian to reach the 2000 run-mark in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday.
Notably, Sachin Tendulkar achieved the milestone in 63 innings whereas KL Rahul scored his 2000th run in his 60th inning against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Dubai. Rahul’s teammate Chris Gayle is the fastest batsman to score 2000 IPL runs as he tops the inning list with only 48.
KL Rahul, who is leading Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2020 in UAE, lost the toss against his former side Royal Challengers Bangalore and was forced to bat first in the sixth match of IPL 2020.
“There were a lot of positives and it was the first game. Mayank’s batting and our team’s fight was heartening. Jordan and Gowtham aren’t playing, Murugan Ashwin and Neesham come in. Chris Gayle will come in at the right time, don’t worry about it. It was tough sitting at home and so we are grateful to get this opportunity to play. The guys are enjoying themselves despite the rustiness in the first game,” Rahul said after losing the toss.
Bangalore is heading into this game with an unchanged XI. Punjab have replaced Chris Jordan and Krishnappa Gowtham with James Neesham (debutant for Punjab) and Murugan Ashwin.
Before the match Mayank Agarwal told India Today that he enjoys batting alongside skipper KL Rahul and T20 legend Chris Gayle as both these batsmen put tremendous pressure on the opposition.
“Pressure is not on me when your playing with those two – KL Rahul and Chris Gayle – because the focus is on them and the pressure they put on the opposition is tremendous. It’s nice to play alongside them, you can just play a second fiddle to them. If they are going great guns you don’t have to break your head and do too much, just have to give them the strike and they can keep going.