Asia Cup 2023: Virat Kohli and KL Rahul© AFP
Indian wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul made his comeback after a four-month gap and completed 2000 runs in the ODI format on Sunday. During a match against Pakistan in the Asia Cup Super Four, Rahul reached the 2000-run mark in just 53 innings, which equaled Virat Kohli’s record. Both Kohli and Rahul achieved the feat in the same number of innings. However, there are three Indians who have claimed the top three spots on the list as they reached 2,000 runs in ODIs even faster. The top spot belongs to veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan who achieved this milestone in just 48 innings, while former skipper Sourav Ganguly and batsman Navjot Sidhu also achieved this milestone in 52 innings.
Talking about the match, the India-Pakistan clash was abandoned due to rain and a filled-in pitch at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo was abandoned after heavy rain forced the ground staff to put on the covers.
India, who got a flying start from the opening pair of skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, were quite sitting on 147 for the loss of 2 wickets when heaven intervened.
However, before the teams were forced back to the dressing rooms, Rohit and Shubman put on a show, hitting the Pakistani bowlers in all corners in a scintillating 121-run partnership.
Shaheen Shaf Afridi and Shadab Khan claimed a wicket each to bring the Pakistanis back into the match after the India openers sent them hunting in the first overs.
Rohit (56) was given a soft dismissal off Shadab, while Gill (58) perished in the next over as he failed to read a slower one from Shaheen and bowled a catch to Agha Salman at extra cover.
Virat Kohli and KL Rahul then came together and seemed to have stabilized the innings when rain interrupted play. Kohli (8)* and KL Rahul (17)* were unbeaten at the crease when the umpires halted proceedings.
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