New Delhi: Delhi Capitals (DC) star KL Rahul broke Virat Kohli’s record to become the fastest Indian to complete 8,000 runs in T20 cricket. Rahul achieved the feat en route to his splendid century during DC’s clash against Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. Rahul also became the third-fastest batter overall to reach 8,000 runs in the shortest format.
Opening the innings for DC in their first game after the resumption of IPL 2025, Rahul looked in control for his innings right from the onset and held one end strongly despite the hosts losing wickets from the other end. Rahul notched up his fifty off just 35 balls with a boundary off Rashid Khan in the 10th over before cruising towards his first century of the season.
Rahul smashed a terrific knock of 112 runs off 65 balls to power Delhi Capitals to a strong total of 199/3 in 20 overs despite a stuttering start from the hosts. Rahul lost his opening partner Faf du Plessis cheaply on just 5 off 10 balls in the 4th over after a sluggish start from DC. However, he bailed the team out of trouble, upping the ante seamlessly after Du Plessis’ departure.
Rahul smashed two sixes and a four in the final over of the Powerplay from Kagiso Rabada to get 17 runs from it and set the tone for DC. Rahul added a vital 90-run stand for the second wicket with Abhishek Porel, who scored 30 off 19 balls. He shared another important stand of 45 runs for the 3rd wicket with DC skipper Axar Patel (25) before adding an unbeaten 48 runs for the 4th wicket with Tristan Stubbs, who played a fine cameo of 10-ball 21.
Rahul finished with an unbeaten 112 laced with 14 fours and four sixes as he notched up the fifth century of his IPL career. Adapting to the opener’s role exceptionally well, Rahul proved his class with his terrific ton, which helped DC recover from a slow start to post a good total on the board. The elegant right-hander played some stunning strokes en route to his unbeaten 112, leaving the fans in awe.
𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘼𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙙 👏
An innings of the highest caliber from KL Rahul 🫡
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— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 18, 2025
KL Rahul scripts T20 history
Rahul scripted T20 history en route to his century for Delhi Capitals as he became the fastest Indian to complete 8,000 runs in T20s. The DC star was 33 runs away from completing the milestone of 8,000 runs and did it in style with his ton against the Gujarat Titans. Rahul took 224 innings to reach 8,000 runs, surpassing Kohli, who achieved the feat in 243 innings.
Overall, Rahul is the third-fastest to the feat with West Indies legend Chris Gayle and Pakistan batter Babar Azam ahead of him in the elite list. Gayle took only 213 innings to complete 8,000 runs in T20 cricket, while Babar achieved the feat in 218 innings.
Fastest to 8,000 runs in T20s (in terms of innings):
213 – Chris Gayle
218 – Babar Azam
224 – KL Rahul*
243 – Virat Kohli
244 – Mohammad Rizwan
Rahul has had a fine debut season for Delhi Capitals as he has notched up 493 runs in 11 matches for the franchise so far this season. He is currently the highest run-getter for DC and 7th in the list of highest run-getters in IPL 2025.
KL Rahul surpassed former India captain Virat Kohli to become the fastest to 8,000 runs in T20 cricket with his splendid ton for Delhi Capitals (DC) in their clash against Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2025 on Sunday. IPL Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
