Dhawan joins elite 600 runs in a year club in Twenty20

MUMBAI:The next ICC World T20 may be two years away, but batsmen around the globe have already upped the ante in the shortest format, with as many as six players crossing the 500run mark in T20Is this year, which is a record for the shortest format.

Australia captain Aaron Finch on Wednesday became the sixth to score 500 or more runs in a year in T20 this year.

But there was a bigger feat in store for Shikhar Dhawan, who joined Virat Kohli in the 600-run club. Kohli had scored 641 runs in 15 T20Is in 2016. Dhawan completed his 600 runs on Wednesday during his 76 off 42 balls. This year is the first in T20I history where a flurry of batsmen have scored 500 or more runs.

Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman (576 runs), Babar Azam (563) and New Zealand’s Colin Munro (500) are the other three batsmen to have scored 500 or more runs so far in 2018.

Australia’s Glenn Maxwell (474) and D’Arcy Short (468) are likely to complete their 500 T20I runs over next few days.

The world No 2 India team now has two batsmen in top three in terms of runs scored — Dhawan with 648 runs in 16 matches at 40.50 with six fifties while Rohit Sharma is at the third spot with 567 runs in 17 matches at 37.80 with two centuries and three fifties.

KOHLI TOPS THE CHART

Kohli was averaging more than 50 across all three formats not long ago, but lack of T20s for him in comparison to his Indian teammates has led to the India skipper garnering a mere 150 runs in eight matches so far in T20 in 2018.

The 30-year-old was not part of the winning India side in a triangular Nidahas Trophy (five matches) earlier this year in Sri Lanka, and he also missed the T20 leg (three matches) of the recent West Indies tour of India. In total, Kohli missed nine matches, including the final T20I against South Africa at Cape Town due to a stiff back.

However, the Indian batsman has featured among the top three run-getters thrice this decade, including his feat in 2016. In 2014, he was the thirdhighest run-scorer with 385 runs in seven matches at 96.25 and five half-centuries, while in 2012 Kohli finished second behind New Zealand’s Martin Guptill with 471 runs in 14 matches at 39.25.