On Sunday, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill struck hundreds when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) clashed with Gujarat Titans (GT). Although batters scoring centuries in Twenty20 is not unheard of, what made Sunday special was that both were consecutive hundreds.
Kohli and Gill had also reached triple figures against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their previous matches.
Kohli's efforts against GT, however, came to a naught, as Gill outperformed him on an evening when RCB needed the win to qualify to the next round.
So, is Virat Kohli now the first batter to score consecutive hundreds in the shortest format?
No, and he is not even the first person to accomplish this feat in the IPL. That was Shikhar Dhawan when he smashed back-to-back centuries against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in 2020 in Dubai.
But Dhawan is the 9th batter overall out of sixteen to score two T20 hundreds in a row.
Representing Australia's domestic T20 team New South Wales (NSW) in the 2011 Champions League T20, Warner scored a sparkling 69-ball 135 against CSK and followed it up with 123 runs off 68 balls versus RCB, becoming the first cricketer to achieve this feat. While NSW managed to beat CSK by 46 runs, they lost to RCB, courtesy Chris Gayle (92) and Kohli (84*).
India’s U-19 World Cup-winning captain Unmukt Chand entered the history books in 2013 when he became the first Indian cricketer to score successive hundreds in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament (SMAT). His achievement came while playing for Delhi when he scored 105 versus Kerala and then 125 against Gujarat in the next match. Kerala trounced Delhi, as Chand's effort went in vain, but Delhi demolished Gujarat to win the game by 112 runs.
In 2014, Luke Wright was in a league of his own, at least as far as the T20 competitions went. During that year's NatWest T20 Blast in England, Wright, representing Sussex, smashed 153 while chasing Essex's total of 225 runs, taking his team over the line. In the previous game against Hampshire, he had masterfully brought up his hundred in a run chase of 178, although unsuccessfully, as his team fell short by six runs.
Michael Klinger is a T20 great. This was established when be brought up consecutive centuries during his stint with Gloucestershire during the 2015 NatWest T20 series. He registered 104 runs in the matches against Essex and Glamorgan, but ended up losing both games with no support from other batters. Overall, he would smash three hundreds in that edition.
Kevin Pietersen was in sublime form while playing for the Dolphins in South Africa's Ram Slam T20 Challenge in 2015, wherein he emerged as the second-highest run-getter (401 runs in 7 matches). His consecutive hundreds, 115* and 100*, came against Lions and Knights, with Dolphins winning both matches. Pietersen averaged a staggering 80.20 in the tournament.
Ishan Kishan was a domestic cricket powerhouse and that is how he earned his place in India's national team. In the 2018 SMAT, he scored successive hundreds, first 100* against J&K, which Jharkhand won by 9 wickets, and 113* versus Manipur, which Jharkhand again won by a massive 121 runs.
Coming to Shikhar Dhawan’s exploits mentioned above, he scored his first century against Chennai Super Kings and the second against Kings XI Punjab. While his 101* versus CSK won DC the match, his 106* did not bear any fruits as KXIP chased down 165 with six balls to spare.
Most recently, Australia’s Steve Smith, while playing for Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League, added himself to the list, smashing his maiden century (101 off 56 balls) against Adelaide Strikers and making it two in a row with an unbeaten 125 off 66 balls versus Sydney Thunder. Sixers won both the matches.
Other batters who accomplished similar feats in different tournaments are Marco Marais (Africa T20 Cup, 2018), Reeza Hendricks (Mzansi Super League, 2018), Ben McDermott (Big Bash League, 2021), Jos Buttler (Indian Premier League 2022), Gustav Mckeon (ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe Qualifier, 2022), and Rilee Rossouw (ICC T20 World Cup, 2022).
