After Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made a stunning comeback and entered the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs with a comfortable win over defending champions Chennai Super Kings. Over the weekend, the phrase “RCB qualified” quickly became a trend on social media (CSK).
Amazingly, RCB won six consecutive games in IPL 2024 and qualified for the knockout stage of the tournament.
Midway through the IPL, RCB were on the outs as they were lying bottom of the table with only one win showing in the win/loss column.
But their turnaround was led by Virat Kohli, the only player to score more than 700 runs in the current edition of the IPL.
Virat Kohli once again created history at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and played a vital role in RCB’s victory.
The 35-year-old smashed 47 off 29 balls to become the first cricketer to score over 3,000 runs at a single venue in the tournament.
En route to his explosive knock, Virat Kohli’s tally at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium soared to 3040 runs in 89 matches.
Following Virat Kohli in the elite list is Rohit Sharma. The 37-year-old scored 2295 runs in 80 matches at Mumbai’s iconic Wankhede Stadium.
It was a double joy for Virat Kohli over the weekend. Besides his 3000 runs at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, with six consecutive wins he ensured his IPL playoff berth for RCB and ousted defending champions his CSK from the 17th cash-rich league. I did.
The former India captain started the innings with an aggressive approach in the powerplay and hit several big sixes, including a maximum of 98 meters off the bowling of Tushar Pandey in RCB’s essay third over.
Virat Kohli led RCB’s onslaught in the early overs of the contest as skipper Faf du Plessis initially struggled to find his touch.
Virat Kohli was handling sixes and boundaries and looked all set for another century in the IPL. However, his active run-scoring was interrupted by the introduction of spin after the power play.
New Zealand left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, who has historically caused problems for Virat Kohli in both international and IPL matches, was on the money from the start.
Virat Kohli felt he was in a tough spot against him and tried to hit him over the ropes, but he was caught at long-on in the 10th over and died with that blow.
Despite Virat Kohli’s dismissal, RCB posted a healthy 218/5 on the board, with Faf du Plessis (54 off 39), Rajat Patidar (41 off 23) and Cameron Green ( 38* out of 17) were the other major contributors. to their score.
In response, CSK got off to a disastrous start, losing captain Ruturaj Gaikwad for nothing on the first ball of the first innings.
Thereafter, CSK could only score 191/7 in their allotted 20 overs, falling short by 27 runs.
Former Team India cricketers Virender Sehwag and Aakash Chopra praised Virat Kohli’s batting performance in the match against CSK.
Former India openers and champions also hailed RCB for their improbable comeback in this tournament.
“Starts mattered, and he mattered starts.” [Virat Kohli] What they gave was great. Faf du Plessis scored more but needed the momentum Kohli set up. He left with 47 points but a strike rate of 162. Great batting from Virat. He did what he was known for.Virat Kohli is a big player in a big match, it was a lot of fun. [bade match ke bade player hai Virat Kohli toh dekhkar bada anand aaya mujhe]. I was happy that he scored a run and the team won. Other than that, most of the time he performed, but the team didn’t win, so it’s disappointing. But today, he succeeded, the team won, and they qualified for the playoffs. So, it’s a double party today,” Virender Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
“It was a great game, a great season. Such a turnaround is possible. Royal Challengers Bangalore have done a great job – Royal Comeback Bangalore. They changed their name this year, they changed their act too. The start wasn’t that good. It seemed like they were going nowhere. Let’s take a bow,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, RCB’s heroics in Bangalore sparked a wave of memes on X making fun of BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) Secretary Jay Shah.
Fans alleged that Jay Shah, the all-powerful boss of the Indian Cricket Board, was behind expelling CSK from the tournament because he wanted to deny MS Dhoni a grand farewell.
MS Dhoni has not made any announcement about his future but there is speculation that he may play his final match in the IPL – after all, he is 42 years old and has an injury-prone body which has plagued him throughout this IPL season.
Some point out that as per Jay Shah’s script, RCB will defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final to win their maiden IPL title and avenge their defeat in the 2016 title match.
