India vs South Africa: Rohit Sharma 8 runs away from World record in 3rd T20I at Bengaluru

The battle of T20I dominance between India captain Virat Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma will continue when the Men in Blue take on South Africa in the 3rd T20I in Bengaluru on Sunday. The two Indian batting greats are in a neck-and-neck battle to be on top of the list of leading run-scorers’ in T20I cricket, with Kohli edging past Rohit to be on the top of the pile with his match winning 72* run innings in the 2nd T20I against Proteas earlier this week in Mohali.

But Kohli’s reign could come to an abrupt end on Sunday, with Sharma regaining the top spot when he comes out to bat. The right-handed batsman is just eight runs away from Kohli’s feat, and could take the top spot. Kohli has 2,441 runs in T20I cricket, while Sharma has 2,434 runs.

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Since, Sharma will open the innings for India, he will come out to bat before Kohli, and hence, could easily surpass his skipper with a couple of boundaries.

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Meanwhile, Sharma’s fellow opening partner, Dhawan, who has scored 6,996 runs in T20 cricket needs just four runs to complete 7,000 runs in the shortest format. If he manages to do so, he will become only the fourth Indian following Kohli, Suresh Raina, and Rohit to reachmark the landmark in T20s.

India continued their winning run in T20Is as they defeated South Africa in the 2nd T20I in Mohali. The skipper Virat Kohli led his side from the front as he hammered an unbeaten 72 to help the men in blue chase down the easy total of 150 in 19 overs on a good batting track. Shikhar Dhawan played a supporting role with the bat, scoring 40 in 31 balls, before he was dismissed with David Miller pulling one of the best catches ever seen in cricket.

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India took 1-0 lead in the match with the third and final T20I set to take place on Saturday. The Proteas will hope to pull off a win to level the series, but might face a tough task considering the form in which India are in at the moment.