Virat Kohli has not played a game since India’s heart-breaking loss to the Pat Cummins-led Australia side in the final of the World Cup 2023. He will represent India during the upcoming two-match Test series against South Africa.
India’s emerging batter Ruturaj Gaikwad is on the cusp of breaking a major T20I record of Virat Kohli and might succeed during the fifth and the final match of the ongoing five-game T20I series against Australia. India will take on Australia in the final T20I of the series, slated to be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, December 3.
Virat holds the record for scoring the most runs by an Indian player in a bilateral T20I series. The former India skipper had aggregated 231 runs during a five-match T20I series against England at home in 2021.
Gaikwad has already amassed 213 runs in four matches in the ongoing Australia series and requires just 19 more runs to go past the Delhi-born batter and become India’s all-time leading run-getter in a bilateral T20I series.
While Virat holds the Indian record for scoring the most runs in a T20I bilateral series, KL Rahul occupies the second spot. Rahul had racked up 224 runs across five T20Is against New Zealand during a bilateral contest in 2020.
Meanwhile, the Men in Blue have already claimed the series 3-1 and would look to end it on a winning note with a victory in Bengaluru. The series win came in the fourth T20I that was played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Friday, December 1.
Aussie captain Matthew Wade’s decision of bowling first didn’t really work as the Suryakumar Yadav-led side won the contest by 20 runs. Rinku Singh once again displayed his power-hitting ability and scored 46 off 29 balls with the help of four fours and two maximums.
After the end of a quick opening burst that saw the visitors score 40 in just 3.1 overs, the 2021 T20 World Cup champions lost their grip on the game and fell prey to Axar Patel’s stranglehold. Axar bagged figures of 3/16 in his four overs to propel India over the line and won the Player of the Match award.
(With inputs from agencies)
