RCB star batsman Virat Kohli didn’t have an ideal return to action with the bat as he managed to score 21 runs off 20 balls against CSK in the opening match of the IPL 2024 season.
The 17th edition of the tournament got underway on Friday evening at Chepauk in Chennai. CSK, now led by Ruturaj Gaikwad, took wickets in clusters twice after Faf du Plessis, the RCB skipper, elected to bowl first.
RCB started well with Du Plessis smashing 35 runs in 23 balls while Virat Kohli was away from the strike for most of the powerplay. Du Plessis’ wicket, in the 5th over, triggered a collapse as RCB went from 41/0 to 42/3.
Kohli, who had missed the entire India vs England Test series for the birth of his child, couldn’t connect his shots today on either side of the wicket that had a bit extra bounce early on before it flattened out.
Virat Kohli managed one six and no four in the 20 balls he faced, in which he scored 21 runs. He got out to Mustafizure Rahman, caught brilliantly by Ajinkya Rahane and Rachin Ravindra on the legside boundary as the duo combined to take a relay catch.
Kohli showed signs of rustiness on his return, but he was expected to fare better than this. This knock comes in the backdrop of the news that the BCCI is pondering over dropping Virat Kohli from the T20 World Cup team.
Twitterati trolled Kohli brutally for this knock.
Virat Kohli got trolled for his slow knock of 21 (20) vs CSK:
RCB skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and chose to bat.
Teams:
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni(w), Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Mustafizur Rahman, Tushar Deshpande
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Faf du Plessis(c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik(w), Anuj Rawat, Karn Sharma, Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Dagar, Mohammed Siraj
Also Read: [Watch] CSK vs RCB: Rahane And Rachin Combine To Take Virat Kohli’s Catch