Virat Kohli Eyeing Hat-Trick Of Records In IPL 2019 Opener Against CSK

Virat Kohli, the Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper, could become the leading run-scorer in the Indian Premier League when his team takes on defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the opening game of the 12th edition in Chennai on Saturday. Currently, Suresh Raina leads the chart with 4,985 runs from 176 matches. Virat Kohli, who has been playing for RCB since the inception of the tournament in 2008 and has scored 4,948 runs from 163 matches, needs just 38 more runs to overtake Raina. Moreover, Virat Kohli is also on the verge of equalling David Warner's record of most 50-plus scores in the IPL. Warner has gone past 50 runs 39 times in the league, while Kohli has done it on 38 occasions. 

Kohli and Raina will also be bidding to outpace each other and become the first to reach the 5000-run mark in the history of the competition. 

Kohli needs another 52 runs to complete 5,000 runs in the IPL, while Raina is just 15 runs away from the milestone.

Kohli was at his monstrous best during the IPL 2016 as he scored a record 973 runs from 16 matches and helped the RCB reach the final that season.

During RCB's most successful season, Kohli also became the first player to score 4,000 IPL runs. His record of 973 runs in 2016 still remains the most runs scored by a player in an IPL season.

Kohli has been leading the team for the past six seasons but the star-studded unit has massively underachieved.

However, run-machine Kohli, who led Team India to historic victories in Australia and New Zealand, will be aiming to win his maiden IPL title in 2019.

In a bid to end their title drought in the upcoming season, the perennial underachievers retained a vast majority of the team's core ahead of the 2019 Auction in Jaipur in December last year. 

The IPL franchise, who finished sixth in the 2018 edition, chose to retain the experienced candidates including captain Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Parthiv Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal and Umesh Yadav. 

Topics mentioned in this article

Royal Challengers Bangalore Chennai Super Kings Virat Kohli Suresh Raina IPL 2019 Cricket Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Match 1