Virat Kohli slams fifty on return from injury, has most runs in IPL now

Virat Kohli made a roaring return from injury as he hammered fifty in 39 balls, lofting Jasprit Bumrah for six as he led Royal Challengers Bangalore’s rousing start against Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday. (LIVE BLOG | LIVE STREAMING INFO)

It was Virat Kohli’s 27th IPL half-century. He was ultimately dismissed for 62, off 47 balls, when Jos Buttler caught him at deep extra cover of Mitchell McClenaghan’s bowling. (LIVE SCORECARD)

With this innings, Virat Kohli became the highest run getter in Indian Premier League as he surpassed Suresh Raina. Virat Kohli is currently leading the chart with 4172 runs with an average of 38.27. He took 140 matches to achieve the feat while Suresh Raina has scored 4171 runs in 149 matches at an average of 33.91. Raina however can go past Kohli as Gujarat Lions face Rising Pune Supergiant in the day’s next match.

Virat Kohli has 27 IPL fifties compared to 29 by Suresh Raina. However, the India captain has four IPL centuries.

With the six off Bumrah that brought up his fifty, Kohli also became only the fifth batsman to hit 150 or more sixes in IPL. Chris Gayle holds the record of hitting the highest number of sixes in IPL. The left-handed batsman smashed 255 sixes in 94 innings of 95 matches.

Virat Kohli, 28, the Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper, had missed the first three matches of IPL 2017 due to the right shoulder injury suffered after landing heavily while fielding in the third Test against Australia in Ranchi.

Virat Kohli is among the few players who dominate across formats. Still, like many batsmen, he would have liked to carry some form into IPL 10. He had a subdued run in the home Test series against Australia, managing just 46 runs in the first three Tests before being sidelined for the final game at Dharamsala.

However, it looked as if Kohli had never left IPL. He took charge in the third over, bowled by New Zealand fast bowler, Tim Southee. He hit 6, 2, 4, 4, 1 to take 17 runs off the over as the shots began to flow from the bat.

Although Southee’s Kiwi team mate Mitchell McClenaghan restricted him to 1, 2, 0, 0, 0 soon after, Kohli’s hunger for runs showed as the built his innings. Chris Gayle, kept quiet at the other end, fell for 22, three short of 10,000 runs, but there was no stopping the India skipper.

Virat Kohli had finished last season in a flourish as RCB were runners-up to Sunrisers Hyderabad. He had a sensational late run in IPL 2016 with a scoring sequence of 109, 75 not out, 113, 54 not out, 0 and a 35-ball 54 in the final.

He finished IPL 2016 with a record aggregate of 973 runs, which included four centuries.