Team India’s star batter Virat Kohli had scored 973 runs in the IPL 2016 edition and holds the record for hitting the most number of runs in a single season. Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri reckons only Shubman Gill can break Virat Kohli’s record considering the kind of form he is in.
Virat Kohli was in a sublime form during the IPL 2016 season as he had scored four tons and won the Orange Cap as well. He took his side into the final of the IPL 2016 edition where they lost against the David Warner-led Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Ravi Shastri feels Shubman Gill can break Kohli’s record
Ravi Shastri was part of a Q&A session on Star Sports where he was asked about who could break Kohli’s 973 runs record in IPL. The former Indian coach suggested it has to be an opening batter in order to get enough opportunities to score that many runs.
“He has to be an opening batsman, because only then will he get many opportunities to score runs. I feel it is Shubman Gill because he is in good form and also because he plays at the top of the order. So he will get a good number of opportunities to score runs”, Ravi Shastri said on Star Sports.
“The pitches are good, so if he can score 80-100 runs consecutively in two or three innings, then at that point only he will already have 300-400 runs,” the former Indian coach further added.
Meanwhile, according to Ravi Shastri, breaking Virat Kohli’s 973 runs record in IPL would be a tough task for any batter. Being an opening batter allows you to get additional opportunities and that can help in scoring more runs than a middle-order batter can score.
“According to me, it is very difficult to break the record, because 900-plus runs is huge. But one thing is opening batsmen will get two extra matches and two extra innings, so they can only break this record if it is possible”, Ravi Shastri pointed.
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Gujarat Titans’ opening batter Shubman Gill has till now scored 2016 runs in 77 IPL games. He scores at an average of 32.52 and has a strike rate of 126.24. In the IPL 2023 he scored 116 runs in the first three games and considering his recent form in international cricket he might try to break Virat Kohli’s 973 runs record in IPL.