Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star batter Virat Kohli consolidated his lead in the Orange Cap standings with a 51-run knock vs SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday. Kohli, who has now scored 430 runs in nine matches, helped RCB beat SRH by 35 runs in Hyderabad. This was RCB’s second win of the season, and their first after six defeats on the bounce. However, Kohli’s knock came under the scanner owing to poor strike rate. The 35-year-old took 37 balls to complete his half-century, and ended up scoring 51 off 43 balls at a strike-rate of 118.6.
Amid criticism over his strike-rate in tournament, Kohli entered the IPL history books with his knock against SRH.
He became the first batter to score 400 or more runs in 10 IPL seasons. He was previously tied at the top with former CSK batter Suresh Raina and Delhi Capitals opener David Warner.
Raina and Warner have also scored 400 or more runs in nine seasons. Kohli is now the undisputed leader in the list.
Coming back to the match, the Faf du Plessis-led RCB won the toss and scored a par 206-7, setting a 207 run target for the in-form SRH in Hyderabad.
In reply, SRH could only score 171-8 as RCB registered only their second win in nine games. Despite the win, RCB remain rooted to the IPL 2024 points table with just four points.
After the match, Faf was relieved man, saying: “been close for a while but you need to win matches to get confidence in the group”.
“Massive win for us. When you’re not winning it does affect you mentally, it does affect your confidence. You can’t speak confidence into the group, you can’t fake confidence into the group,” he added.
Kohli’s low strike-rate has sparked debate over his place in the T20 World Cup squad. Despite the constant chatter, it is highly unlikely that the Indian selectors, led by chairman Ajit Agarkar, would make such a bold call by dropping an experienced batter like Kohli.
India’s T20 World Cup squad is expected to be revealed later this weekend, with the deadline for submission May 1.
The tournament kicks off in the Americas on June 2.
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