Suresh Raina set to surpass run-machine Virat Kohli

Kanpur: Virat Kohli, who scored his fourth IPL ton after scoring 113 runs against Kings XI Punjab to become highest run-getter in the tournament, may lose the top spot in the list as Suresh Raina gets ready to play against Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper is enjoying a rich run of form after scoring 4 hundred in last 9 T20 games. The hundred against Murali Vijay-led KXIP also helped him cross 4,000-run mark in the cash-rich league.

 

On his way to fourth IPL hundred, Kohli surpassed Raina and snatched the top spot from the southpaw. The Indian Test skipper has so far amassed 865 runs in 13 games in the tournament.

However, the Gujarat Lions’ captain, who has struggled (286 runs from 11 games) to find consistency in this season of IPL, may get past Kohli to become top run getter of the tournament as Gujarat Lions face KKR at Green Park on Thursday.

The former Chennai Super Kings cricketer is merely 17 runs away from Kohli’s score of 4,002 runs.

 

After playing 143 games across nine IPL seasons, Raina missed his first ever match as he was in the Netherlands to be with his pregnant wife Priyanka. The duo became parents of a baby girl.

 

However, Raina is back to lead the Keshav Bansal-owned IPL franchise.

 

In Raina's absence, Brendon McCullum led the team which lost against RCB following AB de Villiers and Kohli's record-breaking 229-run partnership.