[VIDEOS/ PICTURES] Virat Kohli has secured his position as an ATG

[Mamoon]

Both Younis and Miandad wipe the floor with him even Inzi is marginally ahead stop looking everything with tiranga coloured glasses

Lol, he is comfortably better than both. As I said, no Pakistani batsman in history is close to Kohli. No one.

If you want to be delusional about it is your choice. If Kohli played his home Tests in UAE for 7 years like Younis did he would be averaging 60+

 

[MenInG]

 

[PakEngFan]

Don’t give me this average nonsense.

His average of 48 is better than the 50+ averages of most batsmen because he rarely plays on flat wickets.

He plays his home Tests on rank turners and his overall record in Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand is better than almost every Asian batsman ever.

Rubbish as usual. Don’t give you stats don’t you facts. You can live in your delusional world where every Indian for you is better than every Pakistani. Kohli average inSENA is less than Saleem Malik I believe lol.

 

[MenInG]

Former Australia batter Matthew Hayden has opined that there is nothing wrong with Virat Kohli's technique adding that players go through a phase where they are not scoring runs but the Indian batter needs to work on how to remain longer on the crease.

He has been struggling to get big scores in Test cricket in the recent past as the star batter has not gone past 50 in the longest format in his last 15 innings. In the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Kohli has managed just 111 runs across 5 innings.

"There seems to be nothing majorly wrong with the technical point of view. The mind that's where the issue lies. When you get to that stage of the career that Virat has when you have achieved everything and anything in the game, it's what continues to inspire you as an athlete," Hayden told Star Sports.

"We all know that the highs of Virat are stratosphere highs, there is such a great positive energy that exists. He has such an infectious energy. You can see the adulation that exists for him in the group, the adulation of the fans, amongst the game itself," he added.

Hayden also said concentration factor become an issue for batters in the second half of their careers and that it might be the case with Kohli.

"The question is not so much for us to answer, the question is internally how Virat himself is going to find a way to get through this period. Players go through periods, extended periods where they are not scoring runs. Virat is not scoring runs.

"So he has to now work out a way as to how he is going to just remain at the crease and be prepared to look a little ugly, look a little unsatisfied, look determined, just to be in the moment and stay in the middle longer. So just the concentration factor is what I am suggesting can become an issue in the back half of our careers. It's got nothing to do with the technique," Hayden said.

After a convincing nine-wicket triumph over India in the third Test has helped Australia book a place in ICC World Test Championship Final. While a victory in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, starting from March 9, will ensure India's spot in the WTC Final.

CricketCountry

 

[Xoib]

Lol, he is comfortably better than both. As I said, no Pakistani batsman in history is close to Kohli. No one.

If you want to be delusional about it is your choice. If Kohli played his home Tests in UAE for 7 years like Younis did he would be averaging 60+

Again it’s your opinion not a fact your hero averages 41 away from home with 58 average at home there is a big home and away difference making him bit of a home bully.

If you stop looking with tiranga coloured glasses you will realise Kohli will struggle to get in a Pakistan all time XI . YK, Miandad and Inzi will bat 3-4-5 he only gets in if plays at 6 and I would rather go with Mushtaq Mohammad to cover the 5th bowling option then a pure bat like him.

 

[Sam99]

That test average is sinking. If it doesn't improve at some point it will be too low for atg status

How can you blame him when he is playing on these pitches consistently these days at home? He is not even at his peak. I think he will recover his average in other series against weaker opposition when he gets a chance.

 

[Mirpuri Don]

Lol, he is comfortably better than both. As I said, no Pakistani batsman in history is close to Kohli. No one.

If you want to be delusional about it is your choice. If Kohli played his home Tests in UAE for 7 years like Younis did he would be averaging 60+

In Tests I don't think that Kohli would make the top 5 in Pak or in India. It's not even about the stats, Sehwag has similar ones but with him you could make the case that "no Pak bat comes close to him" in the most important format (hitting daddy hundreds at his SR is no joke, no one cares about being a FTB or having no footwork, etc when that works), but I struggle to see how Kohli would qualify for the same.

You talk of Australia but in Kohli's days it was not the Australia that SRT & co faced, in fact, England was a better Test side during the 2010s and against whom Kohli hasn't been that talkative with the bat.

I'm not saying his failures there take anything from him (apart perhaps from SRT probably all ATG have a weak point in/VS this country or that one), I'm saying that the Aus Kohli faced isn't the best Aus side and surely doesn't add some sort of advantage to the potential ATG reputation.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, a tall leftie who like Ganguly can be both elegant and aggressive, and who has been successful at U19 level, just hit a double ton for the ongoing Irani Cup, at a Sehwag-like SR as well.

Sarfaraz Khan has been Bradman-esque for many years in FC.

There's just too much talent in Indian domestic cricket for someone like Kohli to be a passenger for too long because he's fetishized due to heroics mainly in other formats.

Contrarily to many, I do believe that he's already earned his ATG status even if his average falls to 45 in Tests, so much he has been dominant in ODIs, but he should definitely reconsider his spot in Test XI for perhaps his own sake.

 

[Ab Fan]

In Tests I don't think that Kohli would make the top 5 in Pak or in India. It's not even about the stats, Sehwag has similar ones but with him you could make the case that "no Pak bat comes close to him" in the most important format (hitting daddy hundreds at his SR is no joke, no one cares about being a FTB or having no footwork, etc when that works), but I struggle to see how Kohli would qualify for the same.

You talk of Australia but in Kohli's days it was not the Australia that SRT & co faced, in fact, England was a better Test side during the 2010s and against whom Kohli hasn't been that talkative with the bat.

I'm not saying his failures there take anything from him (apart perhaps from SRT probably all ATG have a weak point in/VS this country or that one), I'm saying that the Aus Kohli faced isn't the best Aus side and surely doesn't add some sort of advantage to the potential ATG reputation.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, a tall leftie who like Ganguly can be both elegant and aggressive, and who has been successful at U19 level, just hit a double ton for the ongoing Irani Cup, at a Sehwag-like SR as well.

Sarfaraz Khan has been Bradman-esque for many years in FC.

There's just too much talent in Indian domestic cricket for someone like Kohli to be a passenger for too long because he's fetishized due to heroics mainly in other formats.

Contrarily to many, I do believe that he's already earned his ATG status even if his average falls to 45 in Tests, so much he has been dominant in ODIs, but he should definitely reconsider his spot in Test XI for perhaps his own sake.

Kohli is better than Sehwag due to his SENA record. The way he performed on tough pitches of South Africa and Australia is a stuff of a legend. His 149 at Edgabaston was also an incredible knock and he has a hundred in New Zealand too.

If you compare the SENA stats of Kohli to other Indian batters of his era, the difference is big between Kohli and other Indian batters which is where Kohli gets brownie points. He was the reason India were competitive overseas in 2018.

You can't compare Kohli's SENA stats to 2000s era Indian batters because post 2010, test cricket has changed in such a way that everyone has become stronger at home than away. In this era, every team had bowlers who were dominant at home than the bowlers of 2000s were at home.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Kohli is undoubtedly a better batsman than Sehwag in tests, since batting away from home is incomparably harder. With that being said, Sehwag would still make that All time XI over Kohli due to him being India's second best test opener, and Sehwag was arguably the greatest batsman ever in Asian condition (has destroyed every team in Asia, in every country)

Kohli is India's 4th best test batsman overall though. Just behind Tendulkar, Gavaskar and Dravid. People shouldn't forget how Kohli was often India's only consistent batsman from 2014-2019. That too while playing ODIs and T20s

 

[Mirpuri Don]

Kohli is better than Sehwag due to his SENA record. The way he performed on tough pitches of South Africa and Australia is a stuff of a legend. His 149 at Edgabaston was also an incredible knock and he has a hundred in New Zealand too.

I'm not denying it.

After all, we're talking about Kohli after all so there are definitely records to bring.

Sehwag too was good in Australia (46, superior to Pujara's current overall average), when the side was at its very best, while Kohli averages his lowest in England (33), arguably the top Test side of his peak playing decade (the 2010s).

But Sehwag and Kohli are both Indian batsmen, both are destined to play in India mainly more than SENA, so while pushing for the selection you have to keep in mind what they'd do in Asian conditions, not in Australia or South Africa.

If you compare the SENA stats of Kohli to other Indian batters of his era, the difference is big between Kohli and other Indian batters which is where Kohli gets brownie points. He was the reason India were competitive overseas in 2018.

For most of his playing days, Sehwag was surrounded by SRT, Dravid, VVS, and Ganguly. Those who didn't have a real Test career include the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Gambhir, even Wasim Jaffer.

For Kohli, his direct & only Test competitions were Pujara and Rahane (likes of Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Dhawan ... never established a real Test career), this duo mirroring Azhar Ali/Asad Shafique in Pakistan and certainly not comparable to the Fab 4 or even second-tier Indian Test batsmen of the 2000s, so obviously Kohli had easier than Sehwag when it comes to "outshining others", but look at how the rise of Rishabh Pant is putting Kohli's Test form in a whole new perspective for some time now.

As I said Kohli for me is already an ATG, even if he ends up with VVS-like numbers, but these hyperboles are detrimental to the development of the Indian Test side itself, they have tons of young bats who might not become superstars overnight (like Kohli anyway) but surely won't average around 20 for a dozen of successive Test series.

 

[shamaan]

Lol, he is comfortably better than both. As I said, no Pakistani batsman in history is close to Kohli. No one.

If you want to be delusional about it is your choice. If Kohli played his home Tests in UAE for 7 years like Younis did he would be averaging 60+

Your acting like he didn't play in India were he averages 70+

 

[zarak]

How can you blame him when he is playing on these pitches consistently these days at home? He is not even at his peak. I think he will recover his average in other series against weaker opposition when he gets a chance.

You do have a point but he's been failing in places like Bangladesh too. Rohit struck a hundred this series. I would give him a pass on the pitch he played on for the 3rd test. But if he keeps going and his average drops to 46-47 it would be hard to place him as an ATG.

 

[Ab Fan]

I'm not denying it.

After all, we're talking about Kohli after all so there are definitely records to bring.

Sehwag too was good in Australia (46, superior to Pujara's current overall average), when the side was at its very best, while Kohli averages his lowest in England (33), arguably the top Test side of his peak playing decade (the 2010s).

But Sehwag and Kohli are both Indian batsmen, both are destined to play in India mainly more than SENA, so while pushing for the selection you have to keep in mind what they'd do in Asian conditions, not in Australia or South Africa.



For most of his playing days, Sehwag was surrounded by SRT, Dravid, VVS, and Ganguly. Those who didn't have a real Test career include the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Gambhir, even Wasim Jaffer.

For Kohli, his direct & only Test competitions were Pujara and Rahane (likes of Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Dhawan ... never established a real Test career), this duo mirroring Azhar Ali/Asad Shafique in Pakistan and certainly not comparable to the Fab 4 or even second-tier Indian Test batsmen of the 2000s, so obviously Kohli had easier than Sehwag when it comes to "outshining others", but look at how the rise of Rishabh Pant is putting Kohli's Test form in a whole new perspective for some time now.

As I said Kohli for me is already an ATG, even if he ends up with VVS-like numbers, but these hyperboles are detrimental to the development of the Indian Test side itself, they have tons of young bats who might not become superstars overnight (like Kohli anyway) but surely won't average around 20 for a dozen of successive Test series.

Agreed with all your points. Definitely Kohli's place need to be questioned. He can't be getting leeway just because he was the biggest superstar of last decade and got compared with Tendulkar across all formats.

In my previous post, I was just talking about Kohli vs Sehwag debate in Tests.

 

[Xoib]

Top 10 Asian batsman off all time keeping in view just Tests.

Sachin
Sunny
Dravid
Sanga
Younis
Miandad
Sehwag
Inzi
Mahela
Kohli

 

[Robert]

I think India should give serious thought to dropping him for a while.

 

[RamLakhan]

I think India should give serious thought to dropping him for a while.

We did that in the last Australia tour (nobody dropped him but he himself made unavailable). This helped us win the series (Also Pujara & Rahane got back to form in that series and gave useful contribution! Unbelievable isn't it? Sometimes it looks like he is the only problem in the team!)

As some think that he has brought the aggression to this team, he has brought the culture to the team, then well he can be a non-playing captain OR even coach! I think India should bring a new concept to cricket (non-playing captain), I wished the same during Dhoni's end days!

 

[MenInG]

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar, who has been an ardent admirer of Kohli, has now revealed why he always spoke highly of the former India captain.

"See, I believe Sachin Tendulkar is the best batter in the world. But as a captain, he seemed lost. He left the captaincy himself. I was talking to one of my friends about Virat Kohli and we were discussing the same thing. He was lost and when he works on his mind, he will perform. When his mind became free, he lit up the T20 World Cup. It seemed that god had organised the tournament just for him to make a comeback"

"You also need to look that almost 40 centuries from Kohli came in run chases. Log kehte hain tum Virat ki bohot tareef karte ho, main kehta hu kaise naa karu? (People tell me that you praise Virat Kohli a lot. I just say, why shouldn't i do that?) During one stage, India used to win because of Virat's hundreds,"


NDTV

 

[Ab Fan]

Top 10 Asian test bat:

Sunny
Sachin
Sanga
Dravid
Miandad
Kohli
Younis
Sehwag
Inzamam
VVS

 

[Mamoon]

Your acting like he didn't play in India were he averages 70+

He averages 70+ on rank turners in India. If he played his home Tests on Pakistani and UAE roads he would be averaging 100+.

If Babar played his home Tests on Indian turners, he would barely average 30.

 

[Cric1234]

Kohli has seven double hundreds in tests six of which have come in India where his team made a high score each time and other batsmen also scored hundreds.

This tells us he has batted on better pitches in the past these big scores have made his average of 48.

 

[Mamoon]

Kohli has seven double hundreds in tests six of which have come in India where his team made a high score each time and other batsmen also scored hundreds.

This tells us he has batted on better pitches in the past these big scores have made his average of 48.

Ashwin and Jadeja averaged 21 and 22 on the same pitches where Kohli raked up the double tons and Pakistani fans were dismissive of their performances because they were on turners.

It is interesting how the pitch becomes batting-friendly when Kohli bats and becomes bowler-friendly when Ashwin and Jadeja bowl.

 

[shamaan]

He averages 70+ on rank turners in India. If he played his home Tests on Pakistani and UAE roads he would be averaging 100+.

If Babar played his home Tests on Indian turners, he would barely average 30.

Am not on about Babar am on about younis who averaged 70 in India.

 

[zarak]

Ashwin and Jadeja averaged 21 and 22 on the same pitches where Kohli raked up the double tons and Pakistani fans were dismissive of their performances because they were on turners.

It is interesting how the pitch becomes batting-friendly when Kohli bats and becomes bowler-friendly when Ashwin and Jadeja bowl.

I think the rank turners are a recent phenomenon.

You keep saying that Misbah and co boosted their averages on UAE pitches. But keep in mind every team that toured struggled to play our spinners. So those wickets were quite spin friendly too (unlike current pak pitches). I think recently India has turned it up a notch making undercooked wickets.

 

[Cric1234]

Ashwin and Jadeja averaged 21 and 22 on the same pitches where Kohli raked up the double tons and Pakistani fans were dismissive of their performances because they were on turners.

It is interesting how the pitch becomes batting-friendly when Kohli bats and becomes bowler-friendly when Ashwin and Jadeja bowl.

The same thing can be said about UAE pitches which you are saying were flat when Pakistan bat but helpful for spinners when other teams bat.

It’s more a case of home conditions favouring home teams where batsmen and bowlers do better.

 

[Xoib]

Kohli has mainly filled his boots on home pitches where other batsman have also churned up big scores he has rarely done well on square turners .

It’s his away knocks which are held at a higher esteem as he mainly stood up when most Indian and also many opposition players struggled to put up good scores .The 2018 South Africa and the follow up England series were his high points on the batting career.

 

[RamLakhan]

This is the transition period of Indian Batting (Tests). This used to happen even with past Indian Teams (once in like 7 to 8 years) I remember we were whitewashed by Australia & England when Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag were in their last legs... Also around the same period we lost a test series again England at home, and perhaps lost an ODI series against Pakistan at home. I think we tend to forget these. We only remember those heroics of Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag (the fab 4), we forgot their decline. Perhaps the same will happen with Kohli after his retirement (with media highlighting what he did in his prime)

Same thing is (transition) happening with current Indian team (batting). But what is the difference here is "Indian bowling" which is without any kind of doubt is the best ever in its entire history (the only close competitor is 1983 world cup ODI bowling unit, but that unit will not perform in all conditions and not in tests definitely) And this bowling unit is arguably even the best bowling unit (all conditions) amongst all other contemporary teams today! This bowling is saving Indian Test team like anything!!!!!!!! This bowling unit is not just making our team dominant at home, but also making sure that it is competing immensely in overseas (the only support act for them is Pant & the later order batting) If this bowling unit was absent, then we would have got brutally beaten in overseas and even some upsets at home!

Sooner this batting lineup is sorted the better will be for the team! The problem is this transition is taking way too longer time (because we are seeing some success because of our bowling unit which is masking everything!) And Kohli is culprit here! In the event of saving Pujara & Rahane (& Rahul lately) & hiding behind them, he put himself in miserable condition (He could have actually got a better hiding behind proper budding batsmen!)

 

[Mirpuri Don]

This is the transition period of Indian Batting (Tests). This used to happen even with past Indian Teams (once in like 7 to 8 years) I remember we were whitewashed by Australia & England when Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag were in their last legs... Also around the same period we lost a test series again England at home, and perhaps lost an ODI series against Pakistan at home. I think we tend to forget these. We only remember those heroics of Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag (the fab 4), we forgot their decline. Perhaps the same will happen with Kohli after his retirement (with media highlighting what he did in his prime)

True, it’s mere biology to get old and despite maintaining high fitness over the years even Kohli has to reach human finitudes, also Asif years ago made the point that Kohli being a bottom hand player relied more on his physicality (hand speed/wrists/…) than others, and that his comeback would be more difficult than others as well.

But there is decline and decline : in that thread I show that SRT in his last decade of the 2010s (around 3-6 years more aged than current Kohli as well) still maintained an average of 50 :

http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...akistan-Test-batting-since-the-70s&p=11768681

(I’d also like to have a comment from [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] in this thread, more precisely when it comes to asset SRT’s and Kohli’s dominations in their respective decades).

Sehwag was at +40, etc despite his own decline being quite ugly (relied on hand-eye coordination, too biology-centric like Kohli)

My point is that even in their decline they were statistically at least double the player that a declining Kohli is.

A decline in the 40-odd average isn’t the same as a decline in the 20-odd average, the latter can’t be salvaged in the name of past reputation or other formats’ performances, especially with too many options knocking the door.

 

[Mamoon]

True, it’s mere biology to get old and despite maintaining high fitness over the years even Kohli has to reach human finitudes, also Asif years ago made the point that Kohli being a bottom hand player relied more on his physicality (hand speed/wrists/…) than others, and that his comeback would be more difficult than others as well.

But there is decline and decline : in that thread I show that SRT in his last decade of the 2010s (around 3-6 years more aged than current Kohli as well) still maintained an average of 50 :

http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...akistan-Test-batting-since-the-70s&p=11768681

(I’d also like to have a comment from [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] in this thread, more precisely when it comes to asset SRT’s and Kohli’s dominations in their respective decades).

Sehwag was at +40, etc despite his own decline being quite ugly (relied on hand-eye coordination, too biology-centric like Kohli)

My point is that even in their decline they were statistically at least double the player that a declining Kohli is.

A decline in the 40-odd average isn’t the same as a decline in the 20-odd average, the latter can’t be salvaged in the name of past reputation or other formats’ performances, especially with too many options knocking the door.

There is no doubt that Kohli has had a very steep and aggressive decline. It is almost unparalleled for a player of his quality and stature to go four years without scoring a Test hundred.

Perhaps we can discount one year because of the pandemic and there was hardly any cricket played, but even if we do so, three years without a Test hundred is equally shocking.

Ponting had a very sharp decline as well, but he still managed to play a mighty innings every now and then. Kohli has not managed to play a single big innings since the 254* vs South Africa in 2019.

I skimmed through your thread the other day and although I didn’t have the time to leave a post, I was very impressed with your analysis. It is refreshing to see someone rise above the usual Pakistan vs India bias and have an objective outlook on the game.

Keep up the good work because this place needs more posters like you, especially when the quality of posting is at its lowest ebb in the last 10 years.

My personal view on Kohli’s decline is that it is a consequence of the way he pushed his body and his mind to the limits.

He played a ridiculous amount of cricket from 2010 to 2019, he captained for 7 years and his fitness regime was extremely intense for a cricketer. All of that took a toll on him.

The likes of Tendulkar and Sehwag did not push their bodies to the limits like Kohli did. They were from an era where they were required to be cricket fit and not have the fitness and diet plan of a modern athlete.

They also didn’t captain for any extended period of time and were never in a position where they had to be answerable for the team’s performance. Captaining a nation like India, that too for an extended period of time, is a different level of pressure altogether.

The likes of Ganguly, Dravid and Dhoni ensured that players like Tendulkar and Sehwag were shielded from that pressure and scrutiny.

Kohli’s situation was quite different. He was the de facto successor to Dhoni and had so much on his plate for so long. The best batsman in the team in all formats, the captain of the team in all formats, the fittest and most hardworking player in the team.

It was just too much for one person to handle and he had to break one day.

I also feel that marriage has softened him a bit. It might be controversial but I feel like his wife has not had the level of respect and admiration for his career that she should have.

The way he missed the Australian series, almost missed the South African series etc. is not something you would expect from a person who scored a match-saving century for his state team few hours after cremating his father. His priorities have changed after marriage.

 

[JAV12341]

Is this even a debate now Virat Kohli is hands down the greatest batsman of all time period.

He could have retired couple of years ago and his greatness was already cemented.

GOAT

 

[Mirpuri Don]

My personal view on Kohli’s decline is that it is a consequence of the way he pushed his body and his mind to the limits.

He played a ridiculous amount of cricket from 2010 to 2019, he captained for 7 years and his fitness regime was extremely intense for a cricketer. All of that took a toll on him.

The likes of Tendulkar and Sehwag did not push their bodies to the limits like Kohli did. They were from an era where they were required to be cricket fit and not have the fitness and diet plan of a modern athlete.

They also didn’t captain for any extended period of time and were never in a position where they had to be answerable for the team’s performance. Captaining a nation like India, that too for an extended period of time, is a different level of pressure altogether.

The likes of Ganguly, Dravid and Dhoni ensured that players like Tendulkar and Sehwag were shielded from that pressure and scrutiny.

Kohli’s situation was quite different. He was the de facto successor to Dhoni and had so much on his plate for so long. The best batsman in the team in all formats, the captain of the team in all formats, the fittest and most hardworking player in the team.

It was just too much for one person to handle and he had to break one day.

I also feel that marriage has softened him a bit. It might be controversial but I feel like his wife has not had the level of respect and admiration for his career that she should have.

The way he missed the Australian series, almost missed the South African series etc. is not something you would expect from a person who scored a match-saving century for his state team few hours after cremating his father. His priorities have changed after marriage.

Thanks for your kind comment.

Also this is a very good point actually.

As you said Kohli was a bit like the incarnation of the professionalization of cricket at least in Asia, "look, a cricketer is a pro athlete who actually looks like a pro athlete." Kohli was a sort of embodiment of that avatar.

That has created a sort of fitness stress (for a lack of better expression) which ironically might have been his strength for most of his career but which might also have accelerated that biological clock.

That comment about the "post-marriage new priorities" is also spot on and generally underrated as well I feel.

 

[MenInG]

Australia great Ricky Ponting has once again thrown his support behind out of form batter Virat Kohli, but suggested India should consider a dramatic change to their batting order should they qualify for the ICC World Test Championship Final at The Oval in June.

Kohli has managed just 111 runs from five innings during the ongoing Border-Gavaskar against Australia and will once again come up against the same opposition should India clinch the final spot in the World Test Championship decider with a victory in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad this week.

Ponting discussed Kohli current woes with the bat with host Sanjana Ganesan on the latest episode of The ICC Review and the former Australia captain is unperturbed by his lack of a big score during the current series.

"I'm not looking at anybody's form in this Test series because, for a batsman, it has just been an absolute, it's been a nightmare,” Ponting said.

"For Virat, I've said it before I say it over and over. Champion players always find a way, and yes, it might seem like he's in a bit of a drought at the moment and he might not be scoring the runs that we all expect him to score.

"And certainly, you know, he's a realist as well. And we all know as batsmen, when you're struggling and not scoring runs, you don't need anybody else to tell you. You're pretty aware of it yourself.

"But no, I'm every day of the week putting my hand up and not even showing any sort of concern to Virat Kohli. Because I know he will bounce back."

Ponting knows conditions in England in June will be vastly different to what the teams are currently facing on the sub-continent and believes India should consider a change to their batting order should they reach the World Test Championship final.

Experienced right-hander KL Rahul was recently dropped for Shubman Gill at the top of India’s batting order, but Ponting thinks there is a way that both players can feature at The Oval.

Rahul has scored two of his seven Test centuries in England - including an impressive 149 at The Oval back in 2018 - and Ponting thinks the 30-year-old could be an option to be utilised in India's middle-order.

"With someone like KL Rahul having gone out of this side and Shubman Gill having come in, both these guys have played a bit of Test match cricket and you could potentially have both of those guys in the same team,” Ponting suggested.

"Maybe Shubman could start at the top and KL could potentially move down into the middle order, because he's played cricket in those (English) conditions before, albeit at the top of the order.

“But one thing we know about the UK is that the ball swings for long periods of time during the day. And if the overhead conditions are suitable, then the ball tends to swing right the way through an innings."

Ponting urged both India and Australia to be adaptable to the English conditions and select the best XI they think can prosper during the one-off Test showpiece.

"Because it's just a one-off Test match, it will be really important to pick the team that you think is going to have the most success in those conditions," Ponting noted.

"The Oval can be a really, really good place to bat as long as the sun is out, it's probably as good a wicket as any in the UK. So I think that's what it would come down to for India. It would just come down to assessing the conditions and then maybe forgetting about this last series that's just been played.

"The conditions that we're seeing here (in India) are quite extreme. If it was Australia and India, they would both look at the conditions and pick the team that they think was best to win that one-off game."

ICC

 

[MenInG]

 

[MenInG]

A long awaited 28th Test century for Virat Kohli!

 

[Varun]

Hope the flurry of 100s from him in the past 6 months has turned things around for him.

This test one was a major knock.

 

[MenInG]

Hope the flurry of 100s from him in the past 6 months has turned things around for him.

This test one was a major knock.

Virat Kohli has his first Test century since November 2019

 

[Firebat]

The streak is over

 

[MenInG]

The wait has ended. Three years and four months later, Virat Kohli has gotten the monkey off his back by scoring his 28th Test century in the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. This is Kohli's first Test century since November 23, 2019 – and after 1205 days – which finally puts an end to the former India captain's unusually long wait for a three-figure score. Last year, Kohli snapped his century-less streak with a hundred each in T20Is and ODIs, and then added a 74th earlier this year against Sri Lanka in an ODI. And today, on a bright and sunny Day 4 of the Ahmedabad Test, Kohli finally buried the ghosts of his torrid run in Tests with a century that he will remember for a long time.

This is also Kohli's first 50-plus score since January of 2022 – where he scored 79 against South Africa in Cape Town. With this knock, Kohli has replicated a special feat, one that the legendary Sunil Gavaskar achieved 40 years ago. Playing his 50th Test at home in 1983, Gavaskar scored a century, while batting at No. 4. Surprisingly enough, this too is Kohli's 50th Test on home soil, and like Gavaskar, he celebrated it with a century. The only difference in that was Gavaskar scored his 14th ton at home, while Kohli enjoyed his 13th. This is also Kohli's 8th Test century against Australia, tying Gavaskar for the joint second-most tons by an Indian player against the Aussies, next only to Sachin Tendulkar.

HindustanTimes

 

[shaz619]

You can’t keep a good dog down for too long, it was only a matter of time after he broke the deadlock against AFG. Congrats to Kohli, big humble pie for many of his fake fans in India

 

[daytrader]

Virat Kohli's remarks on his long-awaited century - interview with Rahul Dravid

"If I will have to be brutally honest, it does become a little complicated and difficult because the moment you step out of the hotel room, right from the guy outside the room to the guy in the lift to the bus drivers, everyone was saying ‘we want a hundred.’ So it does play on your mind all the time,”

“But that’s the beauty of playing cricket for so long as well, to have these complications and to overcome these challenges and then it comes together nicely as it did in this game, then that gives you the extra confidence to go beyond and go further and start enjoying the cricket a lot more,”

“I am happy that it came at the right time just before the WTC final, and I will definitely be going there very relaxed and very excited,”

"To be honest, I have led the complications to grow on me a little bit because of my own shortcomings. I think the desperation to get that three-figure mark is something that can grow on you as a batsman we have all experienced that in some stage or the other.

"I let that happen to me to a certain extent but also, the flip side to it is that I am not a guy who is happy with forty and forty-five. I have always been someone who takes a lot of pride in performing for the team.

"It’s not like Virat Kohli should stand out. It’s like when I am batting on 40 I know I can get a 150 here and that would help my team so that was eating me a lot.

"Why I am not able to get that big score for the team is because I always took pride in the fact that when the team needed me I would step up and perform in different conditions and situations. The fact that I was not able to do that bothered me"

“Not so much the milestone as such because I never played for the milestones. A lot of people asked me this question how do you keep scoring hundreds and I always told them a hundred is something that happens along the way within my goal, which is to bat as long as possible for the team and get as many runs as possible,"

 

[Aman]

Still feel this is going to do Indian cricket more harm than good.

Remains to be seen if this is a second wind in his career or whether he just cashed on in a road where someone like Cam Green scored a ton.

 

[Advaith]

Still feel this is going to do Indian cricket more harm than good.

Remains to be seen if this is a second wind in his career or whether he just cashed on in a road where someone like Cam Green scored a ton.

He is rare talent and worth the investment..He need nothing to prove only milestones to set for future batsman ..You are talking about this man
Most hundreds
Player Span Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 0
SR Tendulkar (IND) 1989-2013 664 782 74 34357 248* 48.52 100 164 34
V Kohli (IND) 2008-2023 494 552 82 25233 254* 53.68 75 129 33
RT Ponting (AUS/ICC) 1995-2012 560 668 70 27483 257 45.95 71 146 39
KC Sangakkara (Asia/ICC/SL) 2000-2015 594 666 67 28016 319 46.77 63 153 28
JH Kallis (Afr/ICC/SA) 1995-2014 519 617 97 25534 224 49.10 62 149 33
HM Amla (SA/World) 2004-2019 349 437 36 18672 311* 46.56 55 88 19
DPMD Jayawardene (Asia/SL) 1997-2015 652 725 62 25957 374 39.15 54 136 47
BC Lara (ICC/WI) 1990-2007 430 521 38 22358 400* 46.28 53 111 33

 

[MenInG]

Virat Kohli announced his return to form with a gritty century against Australia in the final Test match in Ahmedabad and the star India batsman will be eyeing multiple records as the two teams face each other in the first ODI in Mumbai on Friday. Kohli is just three hundreds behind Sachin Tendulkar (49) and a great show in the series can mean that he will inch closer to scoring the highest number of hundreds in the format. The ex-India skipper also need 191 runs to complete 13,000 runs in ODIs and become the fifth cricketer ever after Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara, Ricky Ponting and Sanath Jayasurya to achieve the feat. That is not all as Kohli is also very close to beating Ponting to go second in the list of batsmen who have the highest number of runs at home – a list also currently headed by Sachin Tendulkar.

Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya's leadership skills and India's overall World Cup preparedness will be under focus when the home side begin their three-match ODI series against Australia in Mumbai on Friday. Pandya will captain the Indian team in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma, who is unavailable for the first ODI at the Wankhede Stadium due to family commitments. The day-night match will be Pandya's first as captain in an ODI, though he is the regular India skipper in the T20 format. He is also the designated vice-captain for the ODI series.

Collectively as a team, the focus will shift from winning the four-match Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and qualifying for the World Test Championships final in June against the same opponents -- Australia -- to starting preparations for the 50-over World Cup the country is hosting later this year.

Keeping in mind that India had won the title the last time the country hosted the tournament -- with MS Dhoni's team winning the trophy in 2011 -- similar expectations will be from Sharma and company.

The expectations will be particularly high because the Indian team is a different beast in any format while playing at home. Moreover, the unwanted record of not doing well enough in the knockout matches of the ICC hounding this group of players, the team will be desperate to turn things around.

India will also look to make the most of the incredible start they have had in ODIs at home this year, winning all six matches in total -- against Sri Lanka and New Zealand in two separate series.

With 567 runs and three centuries in just six ODIs, and averaging 113.40, Shubman Gill has made a cracking start to the World Cup year and Sharma's absence in the first match will put more limelight on the right-handed batter, who is coming off a quality Test century against Australia in the fourth and final match in Ahmedabad.

Batting maestro Virat Kohli had left the lean patch in white-ball cricket far behind, and his 338 runs in six matches at 67.60 indicate that the run-machine can be expected to add more to the 75 centuries that he has accumulated in international cricket so far.

Kohli's battle with Australia leg-spinner Adam Zampa is one of the match-ups to watch out for, with the bowler having had considerable success against the star India batter.

Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal bowled in tandem in the nets during an optional training session on Wednesday here, and the two leg-spinners can form a vital weapon in India's attack given their knack of taking wickets and past record of domination in white-ball cricket.

With 11 wickets in five matches, Kuldeep has so far been India's best spinner, while among fast bowlers, Mohammed Siraj is far ahead with 14 scalps in as many outings.

The Indians will be wary of the fact that the five-time World Cup winners Australia have enough firepower in their ranks to pull off wins, despite the absence of regular captain Pat Cummins who has decided to be with his family after the passing of her mother.

Cummins' absence will be felt by the visiting team as it also looks to finalise its preparations for the World Cup in October-November this year.

Like he did in the last two matches of the Test series, the wily Steve Smith will lead Australia in the ODI series as well.

While Cummins and Josh Hazlewood are not available for this ODI series, veteran batter David Warner and all-rounder Ashton Agar, who both had returned home during the Test series, are back in India with the national squad.

Australia also have not played any ODI cricket in three-and-a-half months of this year, with their focus being trained completely on the WTC final berth.

With that objective achieved, the visiting side will want to approach these three ODIs with the best possible opportunity to prepare for challenges ahead under Smith.

Australia will also draw inspiration from the fact that the last time they played here, they had handed India a 10-wicket defeat with Warner and Aaron Finch -- now retired -- hitting unbeaten centuries.

 

[MenInG]

Virat Kohli looked in glorious form as the star batter scored a magnificent half-century to guide Royal Challengers Bangalore to victory over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Sunday. Kohli looked in stupendous form as he slammed 82 off just 49 deliveries with the help of six fours and five sixes. This was his 50th 50-plus score in IPL and he became the first Indian cricketer ever to achieve the impressive feat. Overall, Delhi Capitals opener David Warner tops the list with 60. Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan is third on the overall list with 49. Kohli currently has 45 fifties and 5 hundreds to his name.

NDTV

 

[MenInG]

Quickfire 50 from Virat Kohli in 34 balls in

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals

and his previous scores in IPL 22023

 

[MenInG]

Another good performance for VK - 59(47) in IPL

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">FIFTY & going strong &#55357;&#56846;<a href="https://twitter.com/imVkohli?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@imVkohli</a> smacks yet another half-century &#55357;&#56399;&#55357;&#56399;<br><br>Follow the match <a href="https://t.co/CQekZNsh7b">https://t.co/CQekZNsh7b</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TATAIPL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TATAIPL</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PBKSvRCB?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PBKSvRCB</a> <a href="https://t.co/WZdHm7cLBs">pic.twitter.com/WZdHm7cLBs</a></p>— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) <a href="https://twitter.com/IPL/status/1649007917851627522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[MenInG]

Trent Boult Bowls the first ball of the match, strikes immediately and gets his 100th IPL wicket and gets Virat Kohli for a golden duck

 

[MenInG]

Virat Kohli scored his fifth half-century of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season but his knock went in vain as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were beaten comprehensively by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday. With RCB chasing 201 against KKR, Kohli hit 54 off 37 deliveries but didn't have help from any other batter, barring Mahipal Lomror, who produced a fine cameo 34 in 18 balls. However, during his knock in Bengaluru, the 34-year-old achieved yet another milestone.

Kohli is now the first batter to score 3,000 or more runs at a single venue in T20s. So far, he has scored 3,015 runs in 92 innings at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Following him on the list are former Bangladesh captains Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah. While Rahim has scored 2,989 runs in 121 innings at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, Mahmudullah has amassed 2,813 runs at the same venue in 130 innings.

England's Alex Hales is fourth in the list, having scored 2,749 runs in 90 T20 innings at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

Tamim Iqbal, another former Bangladesh captain, completes the top five, having scored 2,706 runs in Mirpur.


https://sports.ndtv.com/ipl-2023/fi...writes-history-books-with-huge-record-3984031

 

[MenInG]

As the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season reaches a decisive stage, Virat Kohli's pace of scoring runs has left fans and pundits divided. Though the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Stalwart has been hailed by many for his consistency in scoring runs, there remain those too who aren't impressed by his strike-rate, especially in the middle overs. As Kohli's side prepares to take on Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede on Tuesday, a concerning stat has emerged highlighting the contrasting strike-rate that Kohli has had home and away.

In total, Virat has played 6 games at home and 4 away in the 16th edition of the IPL so far. In the home matches, the 34-year-old has 253 runs to his name at a strike-rate of 149.70.

But, Kohli's strike-rate takes a massive dip in away games, with the veteran batter scoring 166 runs at a strike-rate of 117.73.

Even the number of sixes scored home and away varies by quite a distance. The talismanic batter has hit a total of 10 sixes at M Chinnaswamy stadium in 169 balls. But, has only managed to hit a single maximum in 141 balls in away matches.

NDTV

 

[jnaveen1980]

Kohli's ability to accelerate against spin has gone for a toss. Teams choke him with spin. I don't think his ardent RCB fans care.

 

[Aman]

Finished.

If he doesn't have a decent WC, probably will be booted out by selectors.

They're probably itching to get rid of him. Another WC flop and fans wont care if selectors drop him.

 

[Aman]

Kohli's ability to accelerate against spin has gone for a toss. Teams choke him with spin. I don't think his ardent RCB fans care.

If you want to win IPL, you don't select players like Kohli.

 

[The_KING]

The only format Kohli should play now is ODIs. He is a liability in both T20 and test formats.

 

[MP2011]

If you want to win IPL, you don't select players like Kohli.

No wonder RCB has never won a single IPL till date.

 

[Ab Fan]

Kohli fans should stop hyping me for those 35 ball 50 he scores on 200 type pitches.

 

[Ab Fan]

The standards of IPL are higher than T20Is.

Kohli is good for T20Is but not good enough for IPL. He struggles vs spin on Indian pitches where IPL is played.

 

[Aman]

The standards of IPL are higher than T20Is.

Kohli is good for T20Is but not good enough for IPL. He struggles vs spin on Indian pitches where IPL is played.

He's good enough for neither.

 

[Ab Fan]

He's good enough for neither.

How many did he scored in WT20 2022? Don't forget how he smacked the 155 kph Pakistani pacers at the prestigious Melbourne Cricket Ground with long boundaries as he chased down 48 of 18 balls with Hardik, DK struggling at other end. Their captain was stupid to save the spinner till the end otherwise the game would have been closed earlier.

Kohli is good vs 150 kph pacers but will struggle vs 130 kph bowlers who have multiple variations or quality spinners.

 

[Hitman]

He's good enough for neither.

Let the BCCI selectors decide on that.

 

[Aman]

Let the BCCI selectors decide on that.

Selectors would have dropped him long ago if they wouldn't face backlash from his die hard stans. They'll look to boot him if they fail in the WTC and WC.

 

[Aman]

How many did he scored in WT20 2022? Don't forget how he smacked the 155 kph Pakistani pacers at the prestigious Melbourne Cricket Ground with long boundaries as he chased down 48 of 18 balls with Hardik, DK struggling at other end. Their captain was stupid to save the spinner till the end otherwise the game would have been closed earlier.

Kohli is good vs 150 kph pacers but will struggle vs 130 kph bowlers who have multiple variations or quality spinners.

He was mediocre in the WT20 and hurt India more than anything with his "anchoring". His only good performance was against Pakistan and that was mainly because of Pakistan bottling it otherwise India would have lost that match too.

 

[Ab Fan]

He was mediocre in the WT20 and hurt India more than anything with his "anchoring". His only good performance was against Pakistan and that was mainly because of Pakistan bottling it otherwise India would have lost that match too.

Same Pakistan didn't bottled vs other teams but only bottled it vs Kohli. They didn't even bottled it vs Hardik or DK.

 

[Aman]

Same Pakistan didn't bottled vs other teams but only bottled it vs Kohli. They didn't even bottled it vs Hardik or DK.

Kohli paced his innings poorly, a bit of bottle and Pakistan would have still won that match.

When India went up against a modern T20, he was exposed big time. His way of batting in T20s is dated.

 

[Ab Fan]

Kohli paced his innings poorly, a bit of bottle and Pakistan would have still won that match.

When India went up against a modern T20, he was exposed big time. His way of batting in T20s is dated.

Not really, wickets had fallen and pitch got tougher but he did managed to take his team past the line that day by producing an ATG level knock.

With 296 runs at 136 strike rate in that tournament, he was way ahead of second leading run scorer of that tournament. In his role of anhor, he was way ahead of the other anchors of his era in that tournament, the likes of Babar, Rizwan or Williamson all of them having strike rate in 110s.

As I said, the point still stands. He is good for T20 internationals as he gets to spank 150 kph pacers, especially the Pakistani ones as they have a lot of them. But in IPL, he struggles on two placed wickets where spin plays key role or on absolute belter where his 50(35) will be overpowered by 65(35) from opposition team.

 

[heddie19]

Lol, he is comfortably better than both. As I said, no Pakistani batsman in history is close to Kohli. No one.

If you want to be delusional about it is your choice. If Kohli played his home Tests in UAE for 7 years like Younis did he would be averaging 60+

34 Tons in 116 Tests. He is not even close to Younis' shoelace.

 

[heddie19]

Not really, wickets had fallen and pitch got tougher but he did managed to take his team past the line that day by producing an ATG level knock.

With 296 runs at 136 strike rate in that tournament, he was way ahead of second leading run scorer of that tournament. In his role of anhor, he was way ahead of the other anchors of his era in that tournament, the likes of Babar, Rizwan or Williamson all of them having strike rate in 110s.

As I said, the point still stands. He is good for T20 internationals as he gets to spank 150 kph pacers, especially the Pakistani ones as they have a lot of them. But in IPL, he struggles on two placed wickets where spin plays key role or on absolute belter where his 50(35) will be overpowered by 65(35) from opposition team.

Rizwan and Babar used to open the innings in those tough conditions. Tell me the SRs of Sharma and Rahul. Please make apples to apples comparison.

 

[Ab Fan]

Rizwan and Babar used to open the innings in those tough conditions. Tell me the SRs of Sharma and Rahul. Please make apples to apples comparison.

Those weren't tough conditions. The batters performed poorly. They failed to capitalise on powerplay overs where they could just hit the ball over the circle and get fours.

The players who batted down the order had it harder as they have to clear the long boundaries of Australian grounds

 

[MP2011]

How many did he scored in WT20 2022? Don't forget how he smacked the 155 kph Pakistani pacers at the prestigious Melbourne Cricket Ground with long boundaries as he chased down 48 of 18 balls with Hardik, DK struggling at other end. Their captain was stupid to save the spinner till the end otherwise the game would have been closed earlier.

Kohli is good vs 150 kph pacers but will struggle vs 130 kph bowlers who have multiple variations or quality spinners.

If Kohli won us that game against Pakistan out of nowhere, he was one of the main reasons why we lost against England in semis.

 

[Third Man]

How many did he scored in WT20 2022? Don't forget how he smacked the 155 kph Pakistani pacers at the prestigious Melbourne Cricket Ground with long boundaries as he chased down 48 of 18 balls with Hardik, DK struggling at other end. Their captain was stupid to save the spinner till the end otherwise the game would have been closed earlier.

Kohli is good vs 150 kph pacers but will struggle vs 130 kph bowlers who have multiple variations or quality spinners.

Didn't really smack them. [MENTION=132954]Aman[/MENTION] is right, Rauf bottled it. He wasn't really gonna hit those 155k deliveries, but Rauf decided to bowl a couple of slower ones. The first four bowls, Kohli wasn't so comfortable. He knew and perhaps anticipated that Rauf will bowl at least one of those in the over and took advantage. Kudos to him. Still takes a great player to be so alert in such a big pressure game, but had those been those fast full deliveries that Rauf was bowling up to that point, match was in the bag.

 

[Mamoon]

34 Tons in 116 Tests. He is not even close to Younis' shoelace.

Kohli’s output in Test cricket has suffered because of playing vast majority of his home matches on spin-friendly wickets. India 2015 onwards has not been a very easy place to bat in.

If he was playing most of his home Tests on UAE wickets, he would have scored a lot more hundreds. Not playing Tests vs the likes of Zimbabwe didn’t help either.

4 of Younis’ hundreds came against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

You can keep telling yourself that Younis and Babar are better than Kohli. When you repeat a lie over and over again, you start believing that it is true.

After all, there is a reason Pakistani fans are renowned for being delusional.

 

[shamaan]

Kohli’s output in Test cricket has suffered because of playing vast majority of his home matches on spin-friendly wickets. India 2015 onwards has not been a very easy place to bat in.

If he was playing most of his home Tests on UAE wickets, he would have scored a lot more hundreds. Not playing Tests vs the likes of Zimbabwe didn’t help either.

4 of Younis’ hundreds came against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

You can keep telling yourself that Younis and Babar are better than Kohli. When you repeat a lie over and over again, you start believing that it is true.

After all, there is a reason Pakistani fans are renowned for being delusional.

Doesn't virat average less than 20 in Bangladesh ?

 

[Mamoon]

Doesn't virat average less than 20 in Bangladesh ?

He does, but he has played a grand total of 3 Tests in Bangladesh across two series over 7 years.

That doesn’t really tell us anything. It is just an irrelevant statistical anomaly unless you want to derive the conclusion that he is not good enough to score runs in Bangladesh.

 

[Ab Fan]

He does, but he has played a grand total of 3 Tests in Bangladesh across two series over 7 years.

That doesn’t really tell us anything. It is just an irrelevant statistical anomaly unless you want to derive the conclusion that he is not good enough to score runs in Bangladesh.

Bangla boys have innocous trundlers and spinners so Virat may struggle against them. However, he will do well against the 155 kph Pakistani pacers for sure as he likes pace on bat.

 

[shamaan]

Bangla boys have innocous trundlers and spinners so Virat may struggle against them. However, he will do well against the 155 kph Pakistani pacers for sure as he likes pace on bat.

I agree with this and exactly what I mean he struggles against spin.

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A magnificent CENTURY by Virat Kohli &#55357;&#56613;&#55357;&#56613; <br><br>Take a bow, King Kohli!<br><br>His SIXTH century in the IPL.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TATAIPL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TATAIPL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SRHvRCB?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SRHvRCB</a> <a href="https://t.co/gd39A6tp5d">pic.twitter.com/gd39A6tp5d</a></p>— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) <a href="https://twitter.com/IPL/status/1659248212119781376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[IndoorCricket]

Todays innings was brutal.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Kohli will always be Kohli.

Whenever you think he is finished, he will churn a century out of nowhere.

That's his greatness.

 

[Aman]

When did people start taking domestic T20 centuries seriously?

 

[jnaveen1980]

When did people start taking domestic T20 centuries seriously?

Actual domestic tournament in India is Syed mustaq Ali. This is strictly not domestic. No different than Kerry Packer series.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

When did people start taking domestic T20 centuries seriously?

Not sure what he is supposed to do here.

This was a must win match for RCB to keep them in hunt for top 4 finish in IPL.

Had he got out cheaply, people would have said "Cant chase in Pajama Leagues anymore either".

He really cant win nowadays even if he scores runs.

 

[Ab Fan]

Babaresque batting..

Chased down total in 19.2 overs inspite of being wicketless for most part of the chase.

If RCB loses the next game and RR wins today, RR can go past RCB again.