“I’ve still got it,” Virat Kohli had earlier said in the IPL 2024 season after scoring his first 50+ score. Those words are getting truer day by day. Already the orange cap holder, the star batter, who represents the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), scored a record-extending 8th century and proved his naysayers wrong once again.
His lone warrior, 113, powered the RCB to 183. Kohli scored a whopping 61% of the total runs Bengaluru scored. His carry job may not guarantee a win, but if they indeed emerge victorious, all the credit must go to the greatest IPL batter.
Playing the conditions
The two-time T20 World Cup ‘Player of the Tournament’ is a master at reading the game and the surface. The RR vs RCB match was the perfect example of the batter assessing the game and playing accordingly. Opening the batting, Kohli knew what he needed to do in order to take his side to a good total.
“The wicket looks quite different from the outside. It feels like it’s flat, but the ball is holding up on the pitch. That’s when you realize the pace changes. One of us (Kohli or Faf) had to bat till the end,” he said after his incredible ton.
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Pacing his inning
Virat Kohli was in absolute control. He knew where the fielders were, when he needed to take the initiative, and when to take a backseat. He had scored his half-century from 39 balls and had a strike rate of just over 130. When he ended his inning, he had a strike rate of 157, scoring 70 runs off the next 33 balls.
“I knew I couldn’t get over-aggressive, just that I had to keep the bowlers guessing. It’s just experience and maturity of playing the conditions,” Kohli said after the match, explaining how the plan was to bat deep and take the imitative when the right time arrived.
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