Virat Kohli‘s affinity for the Chinnaswamy stadium is well-known to everyone, and once again, it was on display during the thrilling clash between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday.
Amidst the boisterous ‘Kohli, Kohli’ chants, the former RCB skipper left no stone unturned to smash the LSG’s bowling attack. He continued to be the aggressor during his 96-run partnership with skipper Faf du Plessis, slamming a tremendous half-century.
However, former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull appeared to look unimpressed with Kohli’s game plan as he criticized the Indian icon. Doull expressed his concern over Kohli’s strike rate after, pointing out how Kohli slowed down a bit to reach 50. Notably, the Delhi-born cricketer had taken only seven balls to score the first 42 runs but took eight balls to score the next eight runs to smash his second fifty of the season.
“Virat Kohli started off like a train. He was hammering shots. But from 42 to 40 the took 10 balls. He’s concerned about his personal milestone. I don’t think there’s room for that in this game anymore. You’ve just got to keep going, especially with wickets in hand at that stage. You’ve got to keep going,” said Doull during the match.
Coming back to the RCB vs LSG match, the KL Rahul-led side managed to pull off a thrilling win after defeating the hosts Bangalore by 1 wicket. Marcus Stoinis (65 off 30) and Nicholas Pooran (62 off 19) played explosive innings to keep their team in the game, which went down to the wire, with 1 needed off the final ball. The scores tied, and a super over was looming before number 11 batter Avesh Khan managed to sneak in a bye run and burst into a celebration by throwing his helmet, for which the cricketer also faced disciplinary action.
