(UTV | INDIA) – With Punjab Kings looking to start their second half of the campaign on a better note as they gear up for their second clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Monday at the Wankhede Stadium, veteran India batter Shikhar Dhawan will be eyeing a plethora of IPL milestones, which includes a staggering feat held by former RCB captain Virat Kohli.
The match against Chennai will be Dhawan’s 200th appearance in IPL. He will become the eighth cricketer to reach the milestone after MS Dhoni (227), Dinesh Karthik (221), Rohit Sharma (220), Kohli (215), Ravindra Jadeja (207), Suresh Raina (205) and Robin Uthappa (200).
During his 199 matches in the tournament, Dhawan has scored 5998 runs at 34.67 with two centuries and 45 half-centuries. He hence stands just two runs away from reaching the milestone of 6000 runs in IPL. He will become the second batter in the history of the tournament to reach the feat after Kohli, who has amassed 6402 runs in his career.
941 of those runs came against Chennai in 27 IPL games with one century and seven half-centuries. If he can score at least nine runs, he will surpass Kohli to become the leading run-getter against CSK.
The RCB batter presently has 949 runs in 28 appearances against Chennai. And a big score of at least 59 runs could see him become the third batter in IPL history to amass 1000 runs against a single team after Rohit, who scored 1018 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders and David Warner, who amassed 1005 runs against Punjab.
Dhawan also stands 11 runs short of reaching the milestone of 9000 runs in T20 cricket. He will be the second Indian batter to the feat after Kohli (10392 runs) and Rohit (10009 runs). Overall, he will become the 11th batter to the massive feat. He presently has 8989 runs in 310 T20 appearances for nine different teams.