The King is back. Fans felt this Virat Kohli struck his first fifty of IPL 2022, taking down the Gujarat Titans’ strong bowling attack on Saturday afternoon at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.
Kohli was coming into this game on the back of a really poor form and a series of low scores. Scores of 1 and 12 were followed by two golden ducks and a streaky 10-ball 9 did warrant some doubts over a lot of things around Kohli’s batting. Some even questioned his place in India’s T20 side and felt that he could be excluded from the World Cup squad if his poor rut continues.
But, Kohli batted with immense focus and also got some freebies at the start of his innings from Mohammed Shami, who had been terrific with his good lengths in the powerplay but today dished out a couple of full balls as the RCB opener got going with a couple of boundaries in the first over. A non-threatening short ball down the leg side in the next over was guided for another boundary. Kohli then targetted Alzarri Joseph, stamping his authority with two more fours off the West Indian.
Virat Kohli back amongst the runs.
Maiden half-century for Patidar.
Quick fire innings from Maxi and Lomror at the death.Time for our bowlers to lead the charge from ball 1⃣.
#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPL2022 #Mission2022 #RCB #ನಮ್ಮRCB #GTvRCB pic.twitter.com/F5yqSD9Nl8
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) April 30, 2022
But, such has been Kohli’s form this season that he decided to play the second fiddle to the aggressive Rajat Patidar. With Faf du Plessis dismissed for a duck, the former RCB captain took it upon himself to play the anchor role.
As Patidar got into his groove and maintained the aggression, Virat Kohli calmly knocked around, occasional boundaries punctuated with hard ran twos in the afternoon heat, reminding fans of his elite fitness standards. He stepped on the paddle against Ferguson, slamming the Kiwi speedster for a six and a four.
Soon he notched up his first fifty of the season, a landmark, and there was immense relief on Kohli’s face and throughout the entire nation. The crowd and the RCB dressing room were up on their feet to applaud the return of the King.
Social media flooded with praises and adulation for Kohli. Amid all, Chloe-Amanda Bailey, a renowned Australian journalist tweet has gone viral. She called out all the supporters of Kohli who backed him during his recent struggling phase, stating that Kohli’s best is still to come.
“Virat Kohli 50 shout out to every single person who knows he’s not done – not by a bloody long long mile! Best is yet to come,” Chloe-Amanda Bailey tweeted.
Virat Kohli 50
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) April 30, 2022
shout out to every single person who knows he’s not done – not by a bloody long long mile! Best is yet to come. 
