Virat Kohli, the skipper of Royal Challengers Bangalore, has often found himself at the receiving end of criticism for his underwhelming record as a captain when it comes to the IPL as it has been many years, but his side hasn’t been able to lift the trophy. However, he is one of the most successful players in IPL history, having achieved a lot of milestones.
Here, check out the 5 lesser-known records held by Virat Kohli in IPL:
1. Youngest Cricketer To Become A Captain In The IPL:
Virat Kohli took over the captaincy of Royal Challengers Bangalore during the 2013 edition of the Indian Premier League, however, he had started leading the team during the latter half of the 2012 edition when Daniel Vettori, the then skipper of RCB, suffered injuries and failed to perform. In fact, Virat made his captaincy debut in the 2011 season only after Vettori was ruled out due to a knee injury. Virat Kohli was only 22-years-old when he was handed over with a new role of RCB skipper.
2. Only cricketer to score 5000+ IPL Runs In India:
Virat Kohli is currently the leading run-getter in IPL history, with 5412 runs. Virat Kohli became the first player to reach 5000 runs in the IPL surpassing Chennai Super Kings’ Suresh Raina.
3. Scoring a fifty when no other batsman even reached double digits:
Leave it on Virat Kohli to mesmerize you with his batting performances. It was during the 10th game of the 2017 season of the IPL when Virat Kohli led RCB failed to perform during the match and were defeated by 61 runs.
Virat Kohli became the first individual to have scored a fifty in a complete RCB inning, while every other cricketer from his team failed to score even the double digits.
4. Winning a match as skipper against 11 oppositions:
Virat Kohli has led his team Royal Challengers Bangalore team against as many as 11 opponents so far and has won at least one match against all the 11 teams. Apart from the 8 active teams, Virat Kohli has led his team RCB in matches against Deccan Chargers, Pune Warriors India, Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiant, who are not inactive in the league. He has won all the three matches as captain he played against the RPS team.
Besides Virat Kohli, formerly Indian and former KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir won against a record total of 12 teams as captain in this league.
5. Hitting sixes on the first two balls of a match:
During the 2019 edition of the Indian Premier League, RCB skipper Virat became the first player in IPL history sixes on the first two balls of a match. However, after Rajasthan Royals won the toss, the unpredictable rains turned up. The game began at the cut-off time with each team getting only 5 to play.
Surprisingly, RCB started the show with Virat and AB de Villiers as the openers. Varun Aaron began the proceedings with the ball from the Rajasthan Royals side. Virat tried to play the following ball over the extra-cover region but the ball flew over the third-man fence for another maximum.
With these two sixes off Varun Aaron’s delivery, Virat became the first cricketer in IPL history to smash sixes on the first balls of a match.
