Virat Kohli once again showed his batting prowess when he slammed his eighth IPL century on Sunday during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s last league stage match against Gujarat Titans. However, his ton went in vain as young batter Shubman Gill also struck his second consecutive IPL hundred and took GT across the line with six wickets in hand. With this loss, RCB bowed out of the tournament and paved way for the Mumbai Indians into the Playoffs. For Kohli, it was yet another heartbreak as he failed to take RCB to the coveted title.
Following RCB’s exit, former England captain Kevin Pietersen hinted that Kohli should now leave RCB and play for the Delhi Capitals.
“Time for VIRAT to make the move to the capital city…! #IPL,” tweeted Pietersen.
Time for VIRAT to make the move to the capital city…! #IPL
— Kevin Pietersen(@KP24) May 22, 2023
Pietersen tweet took the internet by storm as the fans came up and expressed their opinion in the comments.
Ain’t happening ever. Kohli can never be the one who would leave RCB just for trophy.
— Pari (@BluntIndianGal) May 22, 2023
Don’t think he will move out of RCB but if that happens, then Virat might want to be in CSK to continue his IPL journey under his forever Captain Dhoni.
— Trilok Reddy (@3lok_cricketfan) May 22, 2023
He should do it asap !
— NK (@Enigmatic__24) May 22, 2023
Virat is RCB and RCB is Virat. Loyalty can’t be bought, KP.
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) May 22, 2023
Notably, Kohli is a Delhi-born cricketer and according to some reports, it was expected that he would be acquired by Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) during the auctions of the inaugural IPL season in 2008. However, the right-handed batter was picked by RCB and has been a part of the Bengaluru-based franchise since then.
Coming to the match, after Kohli scored a 61-ball 101 in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 197 for five, it looked like the best effort on the day but Gill, who will be the torchbearer of Indian batting for the next 10 years, showed that he is better than the best.
What Kohli did well, Gill did better as his unbeaten 104 off 52 balls saw Titans chase down the target with ease. Like former India captain Kohli, this was Gill’s second successive hundred.
Titans thus finished the league engagements with 20 points while CSK ended second with 17 points ahead of Lucknow Super Giants due to better net run-rate. Mumbai Indians, after their eight-wicket win against SRH, were back in the last four with 16 points.
With 34 needed off three overs, Gill’s short-arm half-jab, half-pull off Mohammed Siraj was the killer blow, and then he hit him for another six to kill the contest as Kohli knocked his head in disbelief in the dugout.
(With PTI Inputs)
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