Virat Kohli, the esteemed Indian cricketer, has sent a strong message ahead of the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. He confidently declares that he is currently at the pinnacle of his abilities and believes he is showcasing his finest form in T20 cricket. During the previous T20 World Cup in Australia, Kohli emerged as the tournament’s leading run-scorer. He amassed an impressive 296 runs for India, maintaining a remarkable average of 98.66 and a striking strike rate of over 136. With the competition intensifying as India’s young batsmen rise, Kohli was anticipated to face stiffer challenges in preparation for next year’s event in the Caribbean and USA.

However, the 34-year-old batsman exhibits no signs of slowing down, evident from his recent performances in the Indian Premier League. Kohli, while representing the Royal Challengers Bangalore, has amassed 639 runs in 14 matches, primarily as an opener. Notably, his most recent achievement was an unbeaten 101 off just 61 balls, even though his team failed to advance in the playoffs against the Gujarat Titans.

This remarkable century marked Kohli’s consecutive second in the IPL, and when questioned by former India coach Ravi Shastri about his performance, Kohli confidently responded, “Yes, I felt fantastic. Despite some opinions that my T20 cricket is on the decline, I personally don’t feel that way. In fact, I strongly believe that I am playing my best T20 cricket once again. I am thoroughly enjoying myself and embracing my natural game, which involves hitting gaps, scoring boundaries, and if the situation permits, launching the big shots towards the end.”

When it comes to strike rates and other similar aspects, I have always maintained that reading the situation and rising to the occasion is crucial. This is something I take great pride in and have been doing for quite some time now. I feel extremely confident about my current form and the way I am batting in the middle.

Virat Kohli is not the only seasoned campaigner who has performed exceptionally well at the top of the order for the Royal Challengers Bangalore this season. Faf du Plessis, the South African batsman, has also been in excellent touch, accumulating 730 runs and emerging as the tournament’s leading run-scorer.

Together, Kohli and du Plessis have amassed a total of 939 runs in 14 innings. This equals the previous record set by Kohli and AB de Villiers in IPL 2016 for the most runs scored by a pair in a T20 tournament. Despite Royal Challengers Bangalore narrowly missing out on a playoff spot, their opening duo showcased exceptional performances.

Du Plessis expressed admiration for Kohli and believes that his fellow opener still has a lot to offer in the shortest format of the game. He stated, “Virat has played exceptional cricket throughout the season. It is evident that he has plenty more to offer in T20 cricket, as he continues to perform at a high level.”

In a thrilling encounter at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Shubman Gill of the Gujarat Titans (GT) showcased his batting prowess, leading his team to a comprehensive six-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Sunday (May 21).

With GT needing six runs to win off the final over, the right-handed batsman unleashed a powerful six off the bowling of Wayne Parnell, securing the win for his team. This remarkable shot also marked Gill’s second consecutive century in the IPL.

Gill’s unbeaten knock of 104 off just 52 deliveries, at an astonishing strike rate of 200, included an impressive display of eight sixes and five boundaries. His exceptional partnership of 123 runs with Vijay Shankar proved crucial in overcoming a challenging target of 198, after GT found themselves at 25-1 early in their innings.

With this century, the young talent from Punjab joins the elite group of Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, and Jos Buttler as the only players to achieve consecutive centuries in the IPL.

In the previous match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Gill had scored an impressive 101 runs off 58 balls, leading GT to a commanding victory by 34 runs.

For those who may not be aware, Gill has been in sensational form throughout IPL 2023. In 14 matches, the 23-year-old has amassed a remarkable total of 680 runs at a strike rate of 152.46. This includes two centuries and four half-centuries. Gill’s exceptional form will be crucial as GT aims to defend their IPL title in consecutive seasons.

• As of now, the Gujarat Titans, the Chennai Super Kings, the Lucknow Super Giants, and the Mumbai Indians have secured their spots in the playoffs.
• The fourth position on the points table remained uncertain until the last league match. Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals, and Mumbai Indians were the most likely contenders for the final playoff spot.
• Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, who spent most of the tournament at the bottom of the points table, were eliminated earlier. Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders followed suit.
• RCB played their final game on May 21 but fell short of victory despite Virat Kohli’s remarkable century.
• In an unlikely scenario where both MI and RCB lost their final games, the Rajasthan Royals had a chance to secure the fourth position, but the net run rate (NRR) would have been the deciding factor.
• Unfortunately for Rajasthan Royals fans, MI won their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, eliminating RR from contention. With RCB also losing to the Gujarat Titans, MI successfully progressed to the playoffs.

After Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were eliminated from the IPL 2023 following their defeat against the Gujarat Titans, Naveen-ul-Haq, the all-rounder of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), seemed to mock Virat Kohli once more. He shared a cryptic meme video on his Instagram story, seemingly directed towards Kohli, who has been the target of Naveen’s social media jabs whenever RCB faced defeat.

The rivalry between Naveen and Kohli has been ongoing throughout the season, with tensions rising during a league-stage match between LSG and RCB in Lucknow on May 1. During RCB’s 18-run victory at the Ekana Sports City stadium, the two players engaged in a heated on-field altercation.

Keeping the feud alive, Naveen once again resorted to social media to seemingly mock Kohli. On Sunday, following RCB’s loss, he posted a well-known meme featuring a journalist laughing. This action adds another chapter to the ongoing rivalry between these two prominent figures in the IPL.

Pure Treat to Watch his batting. #MIvRCB #RCBvMI #SuryakumarYadav pic.twitter.com/73VCKvLA8x

— Gujarat Titans (@Gujrat_titans_) May 9, 2023

In the Indian Premier League (IPL), Royal Challengers Bangalore fielded a very strong squad in every match. But in the history of the last 15 years, they could not win the title even once. Former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram believes that if Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the captain, the franchise would have won the title three times in as many days.

Royal Challengers Bangalore has come up with a surprise in every tournament in terms of team formation. The franchise doesn’t skimp on the auctions to buy cricketers. The squad is full of stars. But despite all this, RCB could not win a single title in its 15-year history.

Kohli has captained Bengaluru for nine consecutive seasons since 2013. However, he failed to bring the team a taste of any title. Losing confidence in himself, he resigned last season. That didn’t work either. The fate of South African batsman Faf du Plessis has not changed. Even though the team is in the race for the playoffs so far this season, the team is not in a very favorable position.

However, Pakistan’s former legendary cricketer Wasim Akram believes that if Mahendra Singh Dhoni had been the captain of Bangalore, the franchise would have won at least three times. In an interview with Sportskida, Wasim Akram said, ‘If MS Dhoni had been the captain of RCB, the franchise would have won three IPL trophies.

But RCC has not won a single trophy so far. The franchise enjoys great support. Apart from this, they also have the best player of the present time, Virat. But unfortunately, they did not win the title. If Dhoni had stayed in RCB, he would have helped them win the title.’ Of course, there are reasons behind having such confidence in Dhoni. Under his leadership, Chennai Super Kings won 4 champions in 13 seasons and finished runners-up 5 times. Dhoni is one of the most successful captains not only in IPL but also in international cricket. He is the only captain in the world to have won three major ICC trophies (T20 World Cup, ODI World Cup, Champions Trophy).
Wasim Akram praised Dhoni’s calm nature and leadership skills and said, “Dhoni has the habit of leading.” Leadership is also a habit. Virat must be used to it but Dhoni has this habit. He is not calm inside but shows that he is calm. When players see that their captain is calm and has a hand on their shoulder, the players become more confident. Dhoni knows how to instill confidence in his players.

Royal Challengers Bangalore came very close to the target of 227 runs set by Chennai on Monday (April 17) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, Du Plessis’s team had to leave the field after losing. Bengaluru batsman Virat Kohli has also been fined after the loss to Chennai. The highest-run match in the current season of IPL happened last night. Chennai and Bangalore scored 444 runs together. Batting first on this day, Chennai set a target of 227 runs to Plessy Kohli’s Bengaluru. In the end, RCB lost by 8 runs. After the loss to Chennai, Kohli also had to pay a fine for breaking the rules of the IPL. Kohli has been fined 10 percent of the match fee.

Meanwhile, the IPL authority said, “Kohli has admitted the violation of Article 2.2 of the IPL rules.”Kohli has been fined mainly because of his bad behavior on the field. However, the IPL authorities did not say which behavior of Kohli they fined. However, it is believed that the penalty was due to Kohli’s celebration after Shivam Dube’s dismissal. This is not the first time that players have been fined in this IPL. On Sunday (April 16), the captains of both teams were punished in the Kolkata-Mumbai match. Ritvik Shokin has been fined for excessive celebrations. And Suryakumar Yadav was penalized for getting involved in a fight.

After what Rinku Singh did the other day, no score is safe in IPL. And there is drama. Like this, on Monday night, the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants spread great excitement. On this day in Bengaluru, RCB batted first and collected 212 runs for 2 wickets. Virat Kohli’s 61 with 4 fours and 4 sixes, Faf du Plessis’ unbeaten 79 with 5 fours and 5 sixes, and Glenn Maxwell’s 59 runs with 3 fours and 6 sixes from 29 balls crossed the team’s total of 200. Kohli assumed that they would win easily. Lucknow’s start was indicative of that. They lost 3 wickets in 6 overs of power play and scored only 37 runs after playing with a target of 213 runs! They needed 176 runs to win in 14 overs. Which is almost impossible. But from there the scenario changed with the batting rampage of Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran.

Stoinis was dismissed for 65 off just 40 balls with 6 fours and 5 sixes. And Puran picked up the fastest fifty in this year’s IPL in the 17th over and scored 62 runs in just 19 balls with 4 fours and 7 sixes. Lucknow came within reach of victory in his batting frenzy. They needed 22 runs off the last 18 balls to win. 5 runs were required in the last over. There is also drama. In the end, Lucknow got a thrilling victory with 1 run in the last ball after losing 9 wickets. Kohli’s heroic batting was dimmed by Nicholas Pooran’s fastest fifty. With this victory, Lucknow Super Giants have won 3 out of 4 matches and are at the top of the points table. Bengaluru, who has won one of 3 matches, has dropped to seventh place.

Virat scored 50 off 35 balls. He scored 50 off Ravi Bishnoi in the ninth over. Virat made a pair of 96 runs with Faf du Plessis. Virat Kohli has batted for himself. He played selfishly without thinking about the team. All such allegations of Simon Dull. Former New Zealand pacer claims that is why Virat batted slowly on Monday.

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Lucknow Super Giants match in IPL on Monday. Bengaluru scored 212 runs batting first in that match. Virat scored 61 runs off 44 balls. He hit four fours and four sixes. Virat was making quick runs from the start. Abesh hits Khan for multiple boundaries. Krunal Pandya also hit a six. Virat scored 42 runs in the power play. But he took 10 balls to score the next eight runs. Dul questioned the sudden stop of Virat who was running fast. Commenting, he said, “Virat is thinking about his milestones. He played 10 balls to score eight runs. 42 to 50 off 10 balls after the pace he started with.”Virat scored 50 off 35 balls. He scored 50 off Ravi Bishnoi in the ninth over. Virat made a pair of 96 runs with Faf du Plessis. Although RCB had to lose by 212 runs. Lucknow won the match with the last ball.