KL Rahul became the 4th India batter to score 1000 runs in one-day internationals in 2023. Rahul joined Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the 1000-run club this calendar year when he scored a fifty in the second ODI against South Africa in Gqeberha on Tuesday.
This is the first time that KL Rahul has scored 1000 runs in a year since making his ODI debut in 2016. His previous best tally in any year was 572 runs in 2019.
KL Rahul, who returned to the Indian side for the Asia Cup earlier this year after a long injury lay-off, has been in stunning form. He hit a hundred against Pakistan in the Asia Cup ans then followed that up with some healthy contributions in the World Cup.
However, KL Rahul was criticised for his ultra-slow approach in the World Cup final against Australia on November 19. Rahul was then named captain for the ODI series in South Africa as the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and a few other senior players decided to take a break.
KL Rahul was once again rather cautious when he walked in to join Sai Sudharsan after India lost Ruturaj Gaiwad and Tilak Varma cheaply. However, the stand-in India captain upped the ante later and went on to complete his half-century.
India’s batters have dominated the run-scoring charts in ODis this year. Gill leads the pack with 1584 runs, Kohli is second in the list with 1377 runs while Rohit, who was recently replaced by Hardik Pandya as Mumbai Indians captain, is third in the list with 1255 runs.