Former Indian cricketer Anil Kumble has praised Virat Kohli and expects the Indian star player to continue his best IPL form in the T20 World Cup as well. Kohli's scintillating 92 off 47 balls, followed by a collective bowling effort, helped RCB register a 60-run win over PBKS, their fifth win of the IPL 2024 after losing six matches in a row. Batting first, Bengaluru posted 241/7 before bowling out Punjab for 181 runs, completing their fourth straight win. Kohli hit seven fours and six sixes at a strike rate of 195.74 in his vintage knock, which also took him past the 600-run mark in IPL 2024.
“He is in great form. He had a break during this IPL and since then he has been relentless in his pursuit of excellence. You could see that. He is at the top of the scoring chart with 634 runs, and I am sure for RCB you would like that he wins the next two matches and hopefully qualifies. But for India's sake, you would want his form to continue in the World Cup as well,” Kumble told JioCinema.
Kumble also praised Rajat Patidar, who hit 55, his fourth fifty of the season, and ably supported Kohli after an early fall to add 76 runs in 32 deliveries for the third wicket partnership.
Patidar stepped up the attack on the spinners with Rahul Chahar hitting three sixes in his first over and got new life when Jonny Bairstow was late in reacting to a behind. He got his fifty in 21 balls when he pulled Sam Curran over short fine leg six times before setting the pacer's keeper behind with the left arm.
“He is an international player now. It was important for RCB that the middle order clicked because it was Virat Kohli alone and then Faf du Plessis came into the picture and scored some runs in the first half of the innings in the powerplay. They had someone need firm.
Patidar has been very solid for them. That success rate, to come in and take the game to the opposition, is something we've seen in the last three or four games where he's come on. He is doing exceptionally well and I think his partnership with Virat Kohli has given them the impetus and platform to finish at 240,” Kumble said.
Former Australian cricketer Shane Watson was very impressed with Kohli's all-round effort and helping other batters around him score. Kohli was electric on the field after making a stunning runout from deep mid-wicket with a direct hit to dismiss the dangerous-looking Shahshank Singh, who got out with a 19-ball 37 after surviving a shoulder injury.
RCB made an excellent start to their defense as Swapnil Singh trapped Prabhsimran Singh lbw on the fourth ball. Bairstow hit four boundaries and a six in his 16-ball 27, before falling to Lockie Ferguson on the penultimate ball of the powerplay. Rossouw kept PBKS in the hunt by pushing boundaries at will and notching his first fifty of the competition, which he achieved by hitting a six over Green's head.
After receiving some attention from the physio due to injury, Rossouw made a long break against Karn Sharma, who progressed to Jitesh Sharma Castle.
“RCB were excellent. They had some early chances as Virat Kohli was dropped twice. This allowed him to get going in his innings and he batted so beautifully once he took advantage of those opportunities. 92 runs at a strike rate of over 190 , it's very impressive. Everyone around him could also contribute. Rajat Patidar was exceptional, the 55 runs he scored with six big sixes,” said Watson.
“Cameron Green did a good job too. Everyone just put their hand up when they needed to. With the ball they were clinical. They made a few little mistakes in the field but you could see the intensity increase on the ball.” Some great catches and a great run from Virat Kohli to get Shashank out,” he concluded.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article