'You've always been a warrior': Ex-Sri Lanka skipper lauds Virat Kohli for breaking record

Virat Kohli was at his absolute best in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 scoring three half-centuries so far in the tournament. The former India skipper scored half-centuries against Pakistan, Netherlands and Bangladesh but the recent half-century (against Bangladesh) was special as he was able to achieve a major milestone. Virat Kohli eclipsed Mahela Jayawardene to become the highest run-scorer in T20 World Cups.

Mahela Jayawardena sends a special message for Virat Kohli 

During India vs Bangladesh match, Virat Kohli surpassed Mahela Jayawardene's record of 1016 runs, a record which was set in 2014. Playing in his fifth T20 World Cup, Kohli achieved the feat in only his 23rd innings. Needing just 16 runs to go past Jayawardene, Kohli reached the landmark in the seventh over of India's innings, when he flicked Taskin Ahmed to mid-wicket for a single.

Following the latest achievement, former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardena sent a classy message to Kohli. In a video that was shared by the ICC on social media, Jayawardena said, "Records are meant to be broken. Someone was always going to break my record, and it's you, Virat. Brilliant mate, congratulations. You've always been a warrior. Form is always temporary but class is permanent. Well done, buddy."

Besides being the leading run scorer in the T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli also holds the record for being the highest run-scorer in T20Is and now remains ahead of Rohit Sharma, Martin Guptill, Babar Azam and Paul Stirling on the list. Kohli is also the highest run-scorer in this year's edition of the tournament with 220 runs. He also crossed 700 runs in 2022 in T20Is and is only behind Suryakumar Yadav and Mohammed Rizwan in the list for the most runs in the format this year.

T20 World Cup 2022: Virat Kohli eclipses Sachin Tendulkar's record 

Besides breaking Mahela Jayawardena's record, Kohli also managed to break the record of India's cricket legend during the India vs Bangladesh match. En route to his third fifty-plus score against Bangladesh in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022, Kohli became the all-time highest run scorer for India in Australia. Tendulkar is widely regarded as the best batsman of his generation and he scored 3,300 runs on Australian soil at an average of 42.85 in 84 innings. Kohli, on the other hand, now has a total of 3,301 runs to his name in Australia in 68 innings at an average of 55.94.