Virat Kohli holds the record of scoring the most runs in a single Indian Premier League (IPL) and it is yet to be broken. He amassed 973 runs back in 2016, and still remains to be the only player to gather 900+ runs in a single season of the tournament. Discussing the feat on Star Sports, former Indian head coach, Ravi Shastri said that it would be incredibly difficult to break the record and only an opener would be capable of doing it.

Asked about who has the potential to break the record, Ravi Shastri took the name of Gujarat Titans opener Shubman Gill, who has come into the IPL with a riveting run of form in 2023. England and Rajasthan Royals batter Jos Buttler came in touching distance of the 900-mark in 2022 season, as he smashed 863 runs. He smashed 4 centuries to match Kohli’s tally and also hit 4 fifties in the 2022 season.

Breaking down the mechanics of achieving the record, as per the quotes in India Today, Ravi Shastri said, “He has to be an opening batsman, because only then will he get many opportunities to score runs. I feel, it is Subhman Gill because he is in good form and also because he plays top of the order. So he will get good number of opportunities to score runs.”

He further explained, The pitches are good, so if he can score 80-100 runs consecutively in two or three innings, then at that point of time only he will already have 300-400 runs.”

He further added, “According to me, it is very difficult to break the record, because 900 plus runs is huge but one thing is opening batsmen will get two extra matches and two extra innings, so opening batsmen can only break this record if it is possible.”

Shubman Gill started off his IPL 2023 with a half-century vs Chennai Super Kings. The batter fizzled out a little in the next two matches and hit 14, 39 against Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively.