Two must-win games for RCB. Two sensational centuries from their greatest-ever player, Virat Kohli. The 34-year-old has cracked centuries in all three formats of the game, and this is his 7th IPL century in all – a record in the IPL going past Chris Gayle’s 7 IPL tons.
Despite that, some fans and ex-cricketers had questioned and criticized Virat Kohli’s T20 gameplay, in particular his strike rate. This innings, amid a collapse happening at the other end, is a perfect reply from Virat Kohli’s bat to those who had criticized his tempo and raised skepticism around his batting approach in the shortest format.
Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis got RCB off to a flier with a stand of 62 runs in the powerplay. After that, though, RCB lost its way and slipped to 85/3 with Faf, Maxwell, and Lomror dismissed. Michael Bracewell and Dinesh Karthik too were gone by the 15th over.
So, with only Anuj Rawat left among the specialist batters, it was left to Virat Kohli to remain till the end and take RCB to a fighting total on this flat pitch in Bangalore.
Virat Kohli gives a strong statement against intent merchants
Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 101 off 61 balls, scoring with the help of 13 fours and 1 six and led RCB to the total of 197. A total they must defend to enter the playoffs or they will be knocked out.
Speaking at the mid-innings break, Virat Kohli gave a mouth-shutting reply to those who have raised reservations around Kohli’s strike rate in T20 cricket.
He said: “Lot of people think that my T20 cricket is declining, I don’t think so. I look to hit gaps and then the big ones towards the end. You have to read situations and rise up to the situations. I feel really good with my game at the moment.”
About the total, he added: “We would have taken that with both hands once we were five wickets down. We pretty much pulled things back towards the end. Close to 200 is a winnable score for me. It’s upon the bowlers to execute. I felt great.
Spin wasn’t easy to get away. There’s enough on this pitch for our bowlers. What matters is to stay in the present. I wasn’t focusing on the rain, focused on what I need to do for the team.”
