Kamal Ghorui
Gujarat Titans’ opener Sai Sudharsan has a chance to reach a major IPL milestone and go past Chris Gayle in the record books in the IPL 2026 match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday.If Sudharsan scores 72 runs against RCB at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday, he will become the fastest batter to complete 2,000 runs in IPL history. He currently has 1,928 runs from 46 matches and 46 innings at an average of 45.90 and a strike rate of 145.83, with two centuries and 13 fifties.Reaching the mark in this game would mean he gets there in 47 innings. Gayle had reached 2,000 IPL runs in his 48th innings.Sudharsan, however, has not had his best season so far. In six innings this year, he has scored 135 runs at an average of 22.50 and a strike rate of over 145. He has one fifty, including a 73-run knock against Rajasthan Royals. In the other five innings, he has crossed the 20-run mark only once.His lack of runs has affected Gujarat’s batting. The middle order of Shahrukh Khan, Glenn Phillips and Rahul Tewatia has also struggled for consistency. Better form from them would reduce the pressure on Sudharsan, captain Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler at the top.On the other side, Virat Kohli is also close to a milestone. The highest run-scorer in IPL history with 8,908 runs, Kohli needs 92 more to become the first player to reach 9,000 IPL runs.He has played 273 matches so far, with eight centuries and 65 fifties. Kohli has been with RCB since the first IPL season in 2008 and has never gone into the auction. He also holds the record for the most hundreds in the league with eight.
