Virat Kohli was dismissed early in the innings during RCB’s Eliminator match against RR while attempting the slog-sweep shot.
Virat Kohli was dismissed early in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Eliminator match against Rajasthan Royals in Ahmedabad; the star batter scored 33 off 24 balls. He attempted the slog-sweep – a shot that has given him significant rewards this clear – but couldn’t clear the boundary as he was caught at the deep midwicket boundary. Yuzvendra Chahal ended Kohli’s innings early, handing RCB a massive setback early in their innings after the side was asked to bat first by Sanju Samson.
Virat Kohli plays a shot during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 T20 cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals(PTI)
Following his dismissal, former England batter Kevin Pietersen rubbished the suggestions that Kohli should be more wary while attempting the slog-sweep. During an on-air debate, Pietersen insisted that slog-sweep is the shot that gave Kohli immense success in the ongoing season amid the criticism over strike rate.
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“You got to keep playing. You got to understand that sometimes, you’re taking that risk, it’s risk for a reason,” Pietersen said following the dismissal on-air.
“You got to keep playing it. It has elevated his game, and his strike rate. He had been struggling. It was something people had been concerned about in the middle overs.”
The former English skipper also had a message for Kohli for the T20 World Cup, stressing that the batter shouldn’t be parting ways with the shot when he transitions to Indian colours.
“Kohli would be livid with himself with that dismissal. He would have wanted to build something impressive here this evening on the big occasion. You got to keep playing it. His strike rate has increased significantly this season because of that shot.
“He doesn’t need to park it. He’s got to keep playing that shot all the way through June,” said Pietersen.
Kohli in this IPL
Virat Kohli has been the most consistent batter for his franchise and continues to lead the run-scoring chart in the ongoing season. With 741 runs in 15 innings, Kohli is far above the second-placed Ruturaj Gaikwad (583 runs); the CSK skipper has already played his last innings in the tournament, as his side was eliminated from the league following the loss to RCB last week.
Kohli holds the record for most runs in a single season (973 runs in 2016), and while it may seem difficult for the RCB batter to breach the mark, he will certainly eye crossing the 900-run mark if the side qualifies for the final of the season.
