Virat Kohli can do a big feat in the very first IPL match, will enter the top-5 by defeating Shoaib Malik.

Bengaluru. The 19th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) will start with a bang on Saturday with the match played between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The match will be played at RCB's home ground M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. RCB's veteran batsman Virat Kohli, after scoring 29 runs in this match, will leave Pakistan's veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik behind in terms of scoring most T20 runs.

Virat Kohli has played a total of 414 matches for India, RCB and his home team Delhi between 2007 and 2005. In 397 innings, Virat has scored 13,543 runs scoring 9 centuries and 105 half-centuries. At present, Virat is at seventh place in the list of batsmen who have scored most runs in T20 including international, league and domestic cricket.

If Virat is successful in scoring 29 runs in the match against SRH on Saturday, his total number of T20 runs will increase to 13,572 and he will leave Shoaib Malik at the sixth position in the list of batsmen who have scored the most T20 runs.

Malik has scored 13,571 runs with the help of 83 half-centuries in 515 innings of 557 matches played between 2005 and 2025, including league cricket in Pakistan and around the world. In the list of highest run scorers in T20, Chris Gayle is first (14,562 runs), Kieron Pollard is second (14,482 runs), Alex Hales is third (14,449 runs), David Warner is fourth (14,028) and Jos Buttler is fifth.

Chris Gayle has retired. Apart from this, the top 4 players are still active in T20 cricket. Virat Kohli has also retired from international T20 and plays only IPL. Looking at his performance in the IPL, it can definitely be said that at the end of his career, he can be the top scorer in the T20 format.