It stands right at the top: Sunil Gavaskar hails Virat Kohli's new IPL record

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli on April 22 became the first batsman to score 6,000 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

India skipper Kohli reached the milestone in 196 matches and leads the list ahead of Chennai's Suresh Raina (5,448 runs), Delhi's Shikhar Dhawan (5,428), Hyderabad's David Warner (5,384) and Mumbai's Rohit Sharma (5,368).

He reached the landmark in the match against Rajasthan Royals. He scored an unbeaten 72 during the chase but was eclipsed by 20-year-old Devdutt Padikkal, who smashed 101 off 52 balls in the 10-wicket win.

Read more: Virat Kohli becomes first batsman to score 6,000 IPL runs

Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar is full of praise for Kohli's achievement and reckons that it has 'set a bar' for other batsmen in the tournament. While speaking on Star Sports, he said, "It stands right at the top, for the simple reason that when you're the first to get to a particular landmark, you're setting the bar for others. And now others will want to get to 6000, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina, who have gone past 5000."

Gavaskar was also full of praise for the way Kohli let young Padikkal take the driver's seat and himself played the role of second fiddle. "To see the way he got to it was also amazing. He didn't scratch about; he was hitting the ball fluently. Yes, he took a backseat as he himself said because Devdutt Padikkal was batting so well at the other end. And that's what opening partnerships are all about. Therefore, this feat, as far as the IPL is concerned, I think every time you get to a particular landmark, the first is right at the top," he added.