ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021: Can Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Dwayne Bravo break THESE records?
With the tournament just a few days away, let's take a look at some records that can be broken and created during the mega event.
The mega event all have been waiting for - ICC Men's T20 World Cup - is all set to begin from October 17 in the UAE and Oman. The tournament, which was earlier scheduled to be held in India, was later shifted to the Middle East due to the COVID-19 wave. India, however, still continue to have the hosting rights of the event.
The first set of matches will begin with Round 1, where the first two teams from each group will be qualifying to the Super 12 directly. Australia, South Africa, West Indies and England are placed in Group 1 of the Super 12 round, while India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan are in Group 2.
With the tournament just a few days away, let's take a look at some records that can be broken and created during the mega event.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli, before the start of the tournament, had said that the World Cup will be the last ICC event he will be the captain of the shortest format of the game.
While surely he would like to walk away on a high, there is also a personal milestone for Kohli. The 32-year-old is 240 runs away from becoming the leading run-getter in the T20 World Cup. The batter has amassed 777 runs in 16 matches at an average of 86.33 and a strike rate of 133.04.
The record was earlier held by former Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene who has 1016 runs to his name at an average of 39.07 and a strike rate of 134.74.
In fact, he is the only player to have scored more than 1000 runs in the ICC event so far.
Not just Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma also has a record he can achieve this edition. The 'Hitman' needs 10 maximums to become the Indian batter with the most sixes in the T20 World Cup. In 28 matches, the opening batter had hammered 24 sixes in addition to hitting 59 fours.
The earlier record for the same is held by former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh for smacking the most sixes by an Indian in the T20 World Cup. He smashed 33 maximums in 31 games, including 6 sixes in an over against Stuart Broad during the inaugural edition in 2007.
Rohit will also move up to the No. 2 spot on the list of leading six-hitters in the T20 World Cup as he is currently tied in the sixth spot with Dwayne Bravo.
Chris Gayle (60), Yuvraj (33), Shane Watson (31), AB de Villiers (30) and Jayawardene (25) are above Rohit on the list of players with the most sixes in the tournament.
Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who amazed all in the IPL 2021 for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) needs 10 more wickets to become the leading wicket-taker in the T20 World Cup.
The veteran has claimed 30 wickets in 25 matches at an average of 19.53 and an economy rate of 6.64. He is tied with England's Stuart Broad and South Africa's Dale Steyn.
The list sees former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi as the leading wicket-taker in the T20 World Cup as he claimed 39 scalps in 34 games. Lasith Malinga (38), Saeed Ajmal (36), Ajantha Mendis (35) and Umar Gul (35) are above Shakib on the list.
Not just that, the Bangladesh cricketer also needs only two scalps to become the leading wicket-taker in T20I cricket. He is currently second on the list of leading T20I wicket-takers with 106 scalps from 88 matches. Sri Lankan legend Malinga is on top with 107 wickets in 84 games.
For West Indies legend Dwayne Bravo, if he plays seven games in the upcoming edition, he will become the player to have featured in most matches in the T20 World Cup. Bravo has so far featured in 29 matches in the tournament.
The current record is held by Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan, who has featured in 35 matches in the T20 World Cup. The former batter is followed by Shahid Afridi (34) MS Dhoni (33), Jayawardene, Malinga, Kumar Sangakkara, Yuvraj (31 each), AB de Villiers and Kamran Akmal (30 each).
When talking about current players, Chris Gayle, Rohit, Shoaib Malik and Ross Taylor are all on the list but below Bravo as each of them has played 28 T20 World Cup matches.
New Zealand batter Martin Guptill is the second-leading run-scorer in the history of T20I cricket and just needs 61 runs to become the second player to reach 3000 T20I runs. Guptill currently has 2939 runs to his name from 102 games at a strike rate of 136.82 with two hundred and 17 fifties.
The man leading the chart is Indian skipper Kohli with 3159 runs from 90 games at a strike rate of 139.04. Kohli has 28 fifties in the format but is yet to score a hundred.
India's vice-captain Rohit Sharma is third on the list and has scored 2864 runs in 111 matches at a strike rate of 138.96. Rohit has smashed four hundred and 22 half-centuries in the shortest format.
New Zealand pacer Tim Southee is in need to pick one wicket to become the third bowler to claim 100 T20I scalps. The bowler has picked up 99 wickets in 83 matches at a strike rate of 18 and an economy rate of 8.39.
Malinga and Shakib are the only two bowlers who have more than 100 T20I wickets. While Malinga has 107 scalps in 84 games, Shakib has 106 wickets from 88 matches.
Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan could also achieve a massive milestone and needs five wickets to complete 100 T20I scalps. Rashid has picked up 95 wickets in 51 matches at a strike rate of 12.1 and an economy rate of 6.21.
He has two five-wicket hauls to his name with the best figure of 5 for 3, which was registered against Ireland in 2017.