The Royal Challengers Bangalore were placed at the 7th spot six days ago. Today, they've climbed up the ladder and are placed on the 2nd position courtesy a massive 82 run win (D/L method) against Kings XI Punjab at the Chinnaswamy. Our skipper Virat Kohli has been the destroyer in chief in these past three matches with scores of 109, 75* and 113.
In the post match interview, Kohli spoke about RCB's impressive momentum, his unbelievable hundred and the team's willingness to go out there and get the job done.
Who would've thought that someone could even complete a century in a 15 over game. But the run machine in Virat Kohli made it possible. Each masterclass betters the previous one.
"When all that was happening out there, I thought surely I can't get a 100 in 15 overs. I wasn't believing that it was happening," IPL's all time highest run getter Kohli said.
Our captain was confident of his team's chances of making it to the last four especially after Gayle striking form.
"Chris looked dangerous in the last game, he was in the zone again today. Everything is coming together. In the previous tournaments, we panicked. But hopefully we can continue what we have been doing."
He added, "My main aim is to get runs, it doesn't matter how I play. Even if all my runs come through third man I'll be happy if the team wins. Momentum is a big thing in T20s, when you get into the zone, you feel you can hit any ball. So you just want to give yourself."
Kohli has been courageous all throughout his career. Our captain had 7 stitches on his left hand and defeated pain to play an impeccable innings.
"I didn't hit any balls because I was injured, but when I settled down, I thought I shouldn't think about my stitches. When I got the flow going, and the pain went away, I was able to play shots."
On being asked about how he manages to relax with so many things going on in a T20 game, Kohli said, "T20s is just three hours a day. You still have 21 hours away, so why relax on the field?"
He further spoke on the team's eagerness to get a game after rain delayed start. Luckily the rain gods showed mercy and allowed the game to happen.
"Today was a shortened game, but I was glad we got 15 overs in. We were desperate to get onto the park. It wouldn't have mattered even if it was a five-overs game."
He concluded by shifting focus on RCB's last game against DD on Sunday and displayed his hunger of making it to the playoffs.
"We wanted four in four, we now have three in three. So there's no reason why we can't win. We have got to that stage, where we've stopped thinking about other teams. We are just relaxed, the guys in the dugout are doing a great job. We've got the momentum now."
6224 Runs scored by Virat Kohli in T20 matches- most by an Indian. Only four batsmen - Chris Gayle, Brad Hodge, David Warner and Brendon McCullum - are ahead of him in all T20 cricket.
4002 Runs scored by Virat Kohli in IPL - most by any batsman. He is also the first batsman to reach 4000-run mark in IPL. Suresh Raina had been the leading run-scorer in IPL since 2010 edition onward.
4002 Runs for Virat Kohli in his IPL career. In his innings of 113 against Kings XI Punjab, he became the first batsman to complete 4000 runs in the IPL, going past Suresh Raina's tally of 3985. Before the start of the season, Kohli was fourth on the list.
2042 Runs scored by Virat Kohli in T20 matches at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. He became first batsman to aggregate 2000 runs at a particular ground in this format.
226 Kohli's strike rate in this innings of 113 off 50 balls, his highest in a T20 innings of 20 or more balls. This is the first time he has had a strike rate of more than 200 in a T20 innings batting 20 or more balls.
47 Number of balls taken by Virat Kohli to race to his century - fastest by a captain in IPL. Virender Sehwag had taken 48 balls for Delhi Daredevils against Deccan Chargers at Hyderabad in 2011.
11 Scores of 75 or more for Kohli in T20s this year - most by a batsman in a calendar year. Gayle had 10 such scores in two years - 2011 and 2015. Kohli has converted 11 of his 16 50-plus scores into scores of 75 or more this year in just 25 innings.
4 Number of centuries scored by Virat Kohli in Twenty20 cricket as captain. All other Indian captains have a combined tally of three centuries!
4 Centuries for Kohli in this IPL - most by a player in a single T20 tournament. Michael Klinger had scored three centuries in the Natwest Blast T20 in 2015. Only one batsman has scored more centuries than Kohli in all IPLs - five by Chris Gayle. Incidentally, Kohli had not scored any centuries in his first 180 T20 innings before making four centuries in nine innings.
4 Number of centuries scored by Virat Kohli in IPL. Now only Chris Gayle has scored more centuries in IPL- five.
4 Number of Player of the match awards won by Virat Kohli in IPL 2016 - joint-most by any player, with Rohit Sharma.
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