Jos Buttler will be back in action as the captain of England in the five-match T20I series against India with the opening game set to be played on January 22 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The England skipper, if not in Kolkata, in the series, has a great chance to join the likes of Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle in the elite list after scoring only 33 runs.
Buttler is only 33 runs away from completing 12000 runs in T20 cricket. He will become only the seventh batter to do so whenever he reaches the milestone. For England, he will only be the second player to cross the magical milestone after Alex Hales and the fastest as well. Hales breached the 12000-run mark in his 435th T20 match while Buttler has so far featured in only 429 matches in the shortest format.
West Indies legend Chris Gayle is the fastest to this milestone having reached 12000 runs in just 343 innings. He was also the first ever cricketer to do and still sits on top of the list of most runs in T20 cricket having amassed 14562 runs in 455 innings with a staggering 22 centuries to his name.
Virat Kohli of India and David Warner of Australia are next among fastest to 12000 runs in the shortest format while Shoaib Malik and Kieron Pollard are the other players who have already breached the said milestone.
Most runs in T20 cricket
| Players | Runs |
| Chris Gayle | 14562 |
| Shoaib Malik | 13492 |
| Kieron Pollard | 13429 |
| Alex Hales | 13361 |
| Virat Kohli | 12886 |
| David Warner | 12757 |
| Jos Buttler | 11967 |
Rohit Sharma is the 8th highest run-getter in T20 cricket and he is also only 170 runs away from completing 12000 runs in the format. However, he has retired from T20 Internationals and hence will have to wait to achieve this milestone till the Indian Premier League (IPL). Moreover, Virat Kohli is also nearing the 13000-run mark in the shortest format needing 114 runs to do so and is expected to reach there during the IPL while playing for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
