Virat Kohli (Source -Twitter/X)
Royal Challengers Bengaluru finally (RCB) opened their account in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season with a thrilling four-wicket win over Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Monday, March 25 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. The match saw an on-field banter between star batter Virat Kohli and left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar during RCB’s chase.
Going into the 13th over of the run chase, RCB needed 74 runs from the last eight overs with Kohli and Glenn Maxwell at the crease. As Brar rushed through his over rate, Kohli standing on the other end was caught saying “Ruk jaa usko, saans to lene de (let him breathe)” on the stump mic, drawing a few laughs from Maxwell.
Kohli to Brar: abe ruk ja usko saans toh lene de🤣 pic.twitter.com/kgPIqyqjqX
— Nitin Mittal (@MittalNtweets) March 25, 2024
The light-hearted exchange didn’t seem to affect Brar’s concentration though, as he had Maxwell chopping on the very first ball of the over. The Punjab spinner was once again successful in taking Maxwell’s wicket, having now dismissed him four times in the IPL.
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RCB registered their first win of the season
A similar incident took place during the curtain raiser of the season when RCB was up against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). This time Kohli was caught saying the same thing to Ravindra Jadeja when he came into bowl against Cameron Green.
Meanwhile, Brar’s figures of 2/13 were the standout bowling performance on the day. He also scalped Rajat Patidar’s wicket and kept RCB’s scoring rate in check. However, he found little support from the other PBKS bowlers but Kohli’s brilliant 77 off 49 balls took the game away and he was also awarded the Player of the Match award for his brilliant performance with the bat.
Chasing 177 runs, Kohli batted till the 16th over before falling to Harshal Patel. Dinesh Karthik (28* off 10) then provided the final flourish as RCB chased down the target with four balls to spare. The Bengaluru-based franchise registered their first victory of the season after suffering a defeat against CSK in the opening game.