Indian opener KL Rahul became the third-fastest cricketer to cross the 1000-run mark on Friday (December 6) and also the seventh Indian batsman to reach the landmark during the Men In Blue's first T20I match against West Indies at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.

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KL Rahul managed to secure the grand landmark during his 29th innings.

Pakistan's Babar Azam still remains the fastest cricketer to reach 1000 runs in 26 innings with the Indian skipper Virat Kohli sitting second on the list with his 27 innings.

On the chase of 208, India lost opener Rohit Sharma early on for 8 runs but KL Rahul and Virat Kohli formed a formidable partnership of 100 runs to put India back into the driver's seat.

Kohli played a captain's knock and remained unbeaten on 94 runs off 50 balls, guiding India to a six-wicket victory with eight balls to spare with KL Rahul chipping in a brilliant 40-ball 62 for the "Men In Blue".

During the post-match ceremony, Indian commentator Sanjay Manjrekar expressed to Rahul how much he enjoyed watching him bat on the night.

However, the 27-year-old responded with a savage reply to Manjrekar.

Manjrekar while speaking to KL said, “Personally, when you strike at 150, I like Rahul the best.”

“Everybody likes me when I score runs, that’s how it goes. I don’t plan my innings according to the strike rate,” he responded.

In the past few months, the Indian opener has received a lot of criticism from the critics and the fans. He even got dropped from the national side during India's series against South Africa but made an effective comeback since coming into the team after that. 

“It’s a long way honestly. I have got the opportunity to bat top of the order again after a couple of series, so looking forward to just making the best use of it.”

“Today was a good outing, good hit in the middle and hopefully I can continue the same thing without worrying about October next year. There are a lot of games before that.”