India and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli has become the first player to complete 6,000 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He reached this milestone on Thursday’s clash against the Rajasthan Royals (RR). He brought up the landmark with his 40th fifty in the competition, and it took him 188 innings to reach there.  

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Kohli now has scored 6,021 runs at an average of 38.35 with 40 fifties and five centuries. He also recently went past the 200-sixes mark in the tournament. He also has the unique record of having played for a single franchise since the inception of the IPL, making 196 matches for RCB since 2008.

However, despite his otherworldy stats, he has never won the title, losing three finals – in 2009 to Deccan Chargers, 2011 to the Chennai Super Kings and in 2016 to the Sunrisers Hyderabad. 

Kohli is on course to break that duck, having now captained RCB to its best start to an IPL season, with four wins in the first four matches. The win over RR propels it back over CSK to the top of the table.

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The Rajasthan demolition also saw Kohli’s opening partner Devdutt Padikkal score his maiden IPL century. Kohli began the innings slowly, playing as the second fiddle to Padikkal. From having scored 24 runs off 22 balls, he ended unbeaten with 72 runs off 47 balls. He hit six fours and three sixes in the innings. RCB won the match by 10 wickets with 21 balls to spare.