India vs New Zealand: Martin Guptill surpasses Virat Kohli to become highest run-scorer in T20I cricket

 India vs New Zealand, 2nd T20I: Martin Guptill leapfrogged Virat Kohli to become highest run-scorer in the T20Is format in Ranchi on Friday. He got to the landmark as early as the first over of the Ranchi encounter.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Martin Guptill became the highest run-scorer in T20I cricket
• Guptill surpassed Virat Kohli with his 11th run in 2nd T20I
• India T20I captain Rohit Sharma is ranked 3rd in the run list

New Zealand opener Martin Guptill on Friday surpassed Virat Kohli to become the highest run-scorer in the T20 Internationals during the second match of the 3-match T20I series against India at JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi. Notably, Kohli, who stepped down as T20I captain after India's early exit from the T20 World Cup, has been rested from the ongoing T20I series.

Guptill needed 11 runs before New Zealand's 2nd T20I against India to get to the landmark where he reached in the 3rd over of his team's innings in Ranchi.

Guptill broke the record just 3 delivers into the match as he took the attack to India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, hitting 2 boundaries to get the match underway after Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field on a dewy evening. Luck went his way as KL Rahul dropped his catch while he was batting on 8 in an eventful first over that saw 14 runs being picked.

Guptill's tally includes 2 centuries and 19 half-centuries. Kohli is now ranked on the list with 3227 runs from 95 matches at an average of 52.04 with 29 fifties, followed by India's newly-appointed T20I skipper Rohit Sharma.

Rohit Sharma, the newly-appointed T20I skipper, sits at the third spot with 3086 runs. Rohit, who has 4 T20I centuries, hasn't breached the three-figure mark in this format since 2018. Notably, Kohli and Rohit also lead the list of batsmen with the most 50+plus scores in T20Is with 29 and 28, respectively. Australia's limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch (2608 runs) and Ireland's Paul Stirling (2570 runs) are ranked 4th and 5th spots, respectively.

Earlier, the New Zealand opener scored an impressive 42-ball 70 in the series opener in Jaipur on Wednesday and looked well insight to surpass Kohli's tally of 3227 runs in T20Is before falling to a slower delivery from Deepak Chahar.

However, Rohit's 48-run knock helped India seal a 5-wicket win to take a 1-0 lead and a win in Ranchi will see them register another series win over the Black Caps. India have been the dominant force against NZ in bilateral series and have defeated them in 2 out of the past 3 series