KL Rahul became the fastest Indian to reach 8,000 T20 runs during his century against Gujarat Titans in Delhi on sunday (May 18).
Delhi sprung up a surprise as they were put into bat. Rahul, who had batted in the middle order this season, came out to open alongside Faf du Plessis. After a sedate start which saw DC reach 28-1 in five overs, Rahul cut loose, hitting two sixes and a four off Kagiso Rabada in the sixth over.
Anchoring through the middle overs, Rahul reached his fifty in the tenth, off 35 balls. Abishek Porel (30 off 19) and Axar Patel (25 off 16) played quick cameos, partnering with Rahul. By the end of the 17th over, DC had reached 158-3, with Rahul on 90 off 55. He took five more balls to reach his seventh T20 hundred, pulling Prasidh Krishna for a boundary in the 19th over.
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Match 62, Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Titans
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Rahul eventually finished unbeaten on 112 off 65 balls as DC made 199-3. Only Virat Kohli (nine) and Rohit Sharma (eight) have more T20 hundreds than Rahul (seven) among Indian batters now. He also became the first batter to score centuries for three different IPL teams, having scored two each for Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants.
In the process, Rahul also reached 8,000 career runs in the T20 format and became the quickest Indian to the landmark. He had started this game with 7,967 runs from 223 innings and reached the feat in the sixth over of the DC innings, breaking Virat Kohli's record. Kohli had taken 243 innings to reach 8,000 runs.
Overall, only Chris Gayle (213) and Babar Azam (218) have reached the mark quicker than Rahul. He also became the sixth Indian to cross the 8,000-run mark in T20s after Kohli, Rohit, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, and Suryakumar Yadav.
Full list: Fastest to 8,000 T20 runs (in terms of innings)
| Player | Innings | Matches | Match Date | Debut | Time |
| Chris Gayle | 213 | 217 | 7 Jul 2015 | 15 Sep 2005 | 9y 295d |
| Babar Azam | 218 | 227 | 22 Sep 2022 | 1 Dec 2012 | 9y 295d |
| KL Rahul | 223 | 237 | 18 May 2025 | 17 Mar 2013 | 12y 63d |
| Virat Kohli | 243 | 257 | 5 Apr 2019 | 3 Apr 2007 | 12y 2d |
| Mohammad Rizwan | 244 | 275 | 10 Dec 2024 | 26 May 2009 | 15y 198d |
| Aaron Finch | 254 | 259 | 2 Aug 2019 | 2 Jan 2009 | 10y 212d |
| David Warner | 256 | 257 | 16 Jan 2019 | 5 Jan 2007 | 12y 11d |
| Quinton de Kock | 267 | 275 | 25 Aug 2022 | 2 Oct 2011 | 10y 327d |
| Tamim Iqbal | 271 | 272 | 9 Jan 2025 | 1 Sep 2007 | 17y 130d |
| Chris Lynn | 272 | 280 | 4 Feb 2024 | 13 Jan 2010 | 14y 22d |
| AB de Villiers | 273 | 291 | 4 Aug 2019 | 8 Apr 2004 | 15y 118d |
| Martin Guptill | 273 | 282 | 7 Nov 2021 | 20 Jan 2006 | 15y 291d |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 277 | 280 | 11 Jan 2021 | 3 Apr 2007 | 13y 283d |
