Virat Kohli drew the curtains on his stellar T20I career following India’s spectacular win in the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup against South Africa in Barbados, a win in which he was adjudged as the Player of the Match.
Here’s a statistical look at his career that saw several highs.
4188 runs by Kohli are the second-most by a player in T20Is, only behind teammate Rohit Sharma’s tally of 4231 runs. However, Kohli batted in 34 fewer innings. Kohli and Rohit, who also retired from the format on Saturday (June 29), are the only two players to aggregate 4000+ runs across each of the three international formats with Kohli having done so at an average over 45 in each of the three formats. Kohli was the fastest in terms of innings to the milestones of 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 runs in T20Is when he got to those respective landmarks.
Most runs in T20Is
| Player | Inngs | Runs | Avg | SR | 100s | 50s | HS |
| Rohit Sharma | 151 | 4231 | 32.05 | 140.89 | 5 | 32 | 121* |
| Virat Kohli | 117 | 4188 | 48.69 | 137.04 | 1 | 38 | 122* |
| Babar Azam | 116 | 4145 | 41.03 | 129.08 | 3 | 36 | 122 |
| Paul Stirling | 144 | 3601 | 27.07 | 134.61 | 1 | 23 | 115* |
| Martin Guptill | 118 | 3531 | 31.81 | 135.70 | 2 | 20 | 105 |
| Mohd Rizwan | 89 | 3313 | 48.72 | 126.45 | 1 | 29 | 104* |
48.69 Kohli’s average in T20Is – the second-highest for any batter in the format after Mohammad Rizwan, who sits just a few decimal points ahead on 48.72. Kohli’s average has not gone below 40 ever since he reached the 1000-run milestone in the format. Babar Azam is the only other player to match this feat.
Highest average in T20Is
| Player | Avg | Inngs | Notouts | Runs | SR |
| Mohd Rizwan | 48.72 | 89 | 21 | 3313 | 126.45 |
| Virat Kohli | 48.69 | 117 | 31 | 4188 | 137.04 |
| Muhd Tanveer | 45.42 | 46 | 13 | 1499 | 138.02 |
| K Kadowaki-Fleming | 43.56 | 27 | 2 | 1089 | 156.91 |
| Suryakumar Yadav | 43.33 | 65 | 11 | 2340 | 167.74 |
16 Player of the Match awards won by Kohli – the most by any player in the format, one ahead of Suryakumar Yadav. He also has been Player of the Series on six occasions – two of which came in T20 World Cups (2014, 2016) – which is the most by a player, one ahead of Shakib Al Hasan and David Warner.
Champion of T20 World Cups
1292 runs by Kohli is the most by any batter in T20 World Cups. He was the leading run getter in 2014 edition with 319 runs which happens to be the most by a batter in a single edition of the tournament. He also top scored in 2022 edition with 296 runs while 273 runs in 2016 was the most by a batter in that edition since the Super 10 phase. Kohli is the second highest run getter behind Sachin Tendulkar in ODI World Cups and is the only player to tally 3000+ runs in ODI and T20I World Cups combined.
Most runs in T20 World Cups
| Player | Inngs | Runs | HS | AVG | SR | 100s | 50s |
| Virat Kohli | 33 | 1292 | 89* | 58.72 | 128.81 | 0 | 15 |
| Rohit Sharma | 44 | 1220 | 92 | 34.85 | 133.04 | 0 | 12 |
| Mahela Jayawardene | 31 | 1016 | 100 | 39.07 | 134.74 | 1 | 6 |
| Jos Buttler | 34 | 1013 | 101* | 42.2 | 147.23 | 1 | 5 |
| David Warner | 41 | 984 | 89* | 25.89 | 134.24 | 0 | 8 |
| Chris Gayle | 31 | 965 | 117 | 34.46 | 142.75 | 2 | 7 |
58.72 Kohli’s average in T20 World Cups – the highest among 34 batters to have aggregated 500+ runs in the tournament. He crossed 50 in 15 of the 33 innings in the competition, three more than the next most of 12 by Rohit.
8 Player of the Match awards by Kohli in T20 World Cups, three more than the next best of five each by Mahela Jayawardene, Chris Gayle, Shane Watson, and Adam Zampa. He was Player of the Match on his T20 World Cup debut in 2012 (vs Afghanistan in Colombo) as well as in his final game against South Africa at Bridgetown. Kohli was Player of the tournament in 2014 and 2016 editions making him the only player to win the award twice.
103.50 Kohli’s average in semifinals and finals in T20I format. Only once in seven innings was he dismissed for less than 50 – in the recent semifinal against England in Providence when he was dismissed for 9. In knockout games in T20 World Cups, his scores read 72*, 77, 89*, 50, 9, and 76 while he also made an unbeaten 41 in the finals of Asia Cup 2016. Kohli’s five 50+ scores is the most by a batter in T20 World Cup knockouts – no other batter has scored more than two.
Virat Kohli averaged 67.10 in T20I run-chases ©Getty
The chase master
67.10 Kohli’s average in run chases – by a distance the highest for any player to have scored at least 500 runs batting second in T20I. Among Full member nations, only Suryakumar Yadav averages 50+ (50.23) in run chases in T20Is.
42 wins India have successfully chased 42 times of the 52 completed T20Is in which Kohli featured in the XI. Kohli has remained unbeaten in run chases 18 times for India, and they went on to win each of the 18 matches. In 48 innings in chases, Kohli has crossed 50+ as many as 20 times.
Other notable records
47.57 Kohli’s average while leading India in T20Is – the highest for any captain with at least 1000 runs. Of the 50 matches he led India in the format, India went on to win as many as 32 including two wins via Super Over.
1 Kohli is the only player to average 50+ simultaneously across the three formats having 1000+ career runs at that point in each of the format. Kohli’s T20I average read 58.61 after his knock of 89* in the semifinals of 2016 World Cup – the highest a batter reached in his T20I career after crossing 1000 runs.
4 Kohli has featured in the winning XI of the finals of each of the four major ICC white ball events, a unique feat. He captained India to Under 19 title win in 2008, won ODI World Cup in his first ever attempt in 2011, followed it up with Champions Trophy win in 2013 and capped off his T20I career lifting the T20 World Cup in 2024.
