Former India speedster Zaheer Khan heaped massive praises on flamboyant Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Virat Kohli, following his exhilarating knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Match 65 of IPL 2023. In their must-win clash, RCB brushed aside SRH by eight wickets, courtesy of masterclass performances by Kohli and skipper Faf du Plessis.
While chasing a competitive total of 186 runs, Kohli and Faf upped the ante and hit the ground running right from the beginning of the innings. The pair added a record 172-run partnership which comfortably saw RCB cruise past the finish line.
While skipper Faf scored 71 off 47 balls, it was Kohli, who got to his vintage best and clobbered a 63-ball 100, cracking four sixes and 12 fours. Impressed with his monstrous knock, former RCB pacer Zaheer Khan lavished praise on Kohli, as he stated that he built a strong platform despite being under pressure for the playoffs.
“Whenever Virat gets to hitting fours early, he hit four to five fours in his first two overs. He scored 22 runs and 20 of them were through fours. He built a strong platform and then took it into the zone. It seemed like we were going to see something special, and we got to see something special,” Zaheer told on JioCinema.
‘All other teams in the points table were waiting for RCB to lose tonight’ – Zaheer impressed with RCB’s power-packed performance under pressure
Zaheer, who had predicted a victory for RCB prior to the match, also said that many teams on the points table wanted RCB to lose in order to clear their roadblocks, thus adding to the crushing pressure. He further said that RCB didn’t have a great track record playing under pressure but Kohli’s innings gave them that confidence, therefore rendering it even more meaningful.
“All other teams in the points table were waiting for RCB to lose tonight, so there was pressure. We’ve seen this team crumble under pressure in previous seasons. From that lens, this inning is even more meaningful given how Klaasen batted for Hyderabad. After that, it seemed like this pitch wouldn’t be helpful to batters. It didn’t seem like that with Virat and that elevates the value of it,” said Zaheer.
For those uninitiated, Kohli recorded the joint-most centuries (six) in the history of the top-tier league, getting on level terms with former teammate Chris Gayle. With the win, RCB climbed to the fourth place on the IPL Points Table as they have 14 points in 13 matches with a decent Net Run Rate (NRR) of 0.180. A win against Gujarat Titans in their final group assignment will guarantee their place in the playoffs of the event.