No stopping Virat Kohli as he closes in on all-time record with 12th T20 World Cup fifty

Virat Kohli played another sensational knock for the Indian cricket team in the Super 12 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 on Thursday. Facing Netherlands at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Kohli emerged as the highest run scorer for the team, while three out of India's top four in the batting lineup scored half-centuries. His unbeaten knock of 62 runs in 44 balls against Netherlands took India’s score to 179/2 in the first innings, as they restricted Netherlands to 123/9 in the second.

Courtesy of the knock, Kohli registered his 12th half-century in the T20 World Cup in 21 innings (23 matches). He is now chasing a world record of scoring the most amount of runs in the history of the prestigious tournament. It is pertinent to mention that the fifty against Netherlands was Kohli's second consecutive half-century in this T20 World Cup, after he hit 82 off 53 against Pakistan to mark India’s Super 12 campaign open with a win.

Virat Kohli chases major world record in T20I cricket

Meanwhile, Kohli has now scored 989 runs in the T20 World Cup history after playing 21 innings. With his knock of 62 runs against the Dutch team, Kohli surpassed Caribbean champion Chris Gayle in the list of high-scorers in the prestigious tournament. He is chasing the world record of becoming the leading run-scorer in T20 World Cups.

Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardene currently leads the run-scoring charts in the T20 World Cup and Kohli needs only 28 more to eclipse him in the record book. It is pertinent to mention that, Kohli has played eight matches fewer than Jayawardene, while playing 10 games less than Chris Gayle. The Caribbean cricketer had scored 965 runs for West Indies during his career in 33 games. 

A look at Virat Kohli's sensational stats in 2022

Kohli has an average of 89.9 in the T20 World Cup, which is 37 runs clear of Jayawardene’s and 55 more than Gayle’s average. The 33-year-old is also the highest run-scorer in the history of T20I cricket. He has amassed 3856 runs so far in 111 games and leads the chart from the India captain Rohit Sharma, who has registered 3794 runs in 144 games so far. 

The former India captain has now scored 1024 runs in 31 innings across format in 2022 with an average of 39.38 and a strike rate of 83.72. He has already registered nine half-centuries and one century this year. This is the first time since 2019 that Kohli has crossed the 1000-run mark.