Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the two stalwarts of Indian cricket, are among the highest run-scorer in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but these two batsmen failed to perform whenever this T20 tournament was played overseas.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this time the IPL will be held between 19 September and 10 November in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This will be the third occasion when this domestic tournament of India will be played on foreign soil. Earlier due to general elections, the entire tournament was played in South Africa in 2009 while in 2014 the first leg was played in UAE.
On both these occasions, Kohli and Rohit could not perform as per their fame. Of the 21 matches he played abroad in the IPL, Kohli scored 351 runs at an average of 23.40, including only one half-century (the highest 50 runs).
Kohli has played a total of 177 matches in the IPL so far, scoring 5,412 runs at an average of 37.84, including five centuries and 36 half-centuries. This means that out of 156 IPL matches Kohli played in India, he scored 5,061 runs at an average of 39.53, in addition to his five centuries, he hit 35 half-centuries.
Kohli has been a part of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) since the beginning of the IPL. He scored 246 runs in 16 matches at an average of 22.36 and a half-century in South Africa in 2009 and 105 from five matches in the UAE in 2014. In 9 innings he played in this tournament, he was successful in scoring 254 runs with the help of two half-centuries.
Rohit has 4,898 runs in 188 matches at an average of 31.60 in IPL, including a century and 36 half-centuries. He is third in the list of batsmen in the tournament after Kohli and Suresh Raina (5368). Rohit scored 446 of these runs on foreign soil.
Rohit has played a total of 21 matches in South Africa and the UAE so far and has scored at an average of 24.77, including two half-centuries (highest 52). Rohit was a part of Deccan Chargers in 2009 and then in South Africa, he scored 362 runs in 16 matches with the help of a half-century. Five years later, in the UAE, however, he was able to score 84 runs in five matches for Mumbai Indians. It also includes an innings of 50 runs played against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). In this way, Rohit was able to score only 34 runs in the remaining four matches. Then in the second leg played at home, he improved his record by scoring 306 runs in ten matches.
