It was only a few days ago. Indian skipper Virat Kohli completed his 200th match for RCB and announced that he’ll step down as its captain after the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL), but will remain a player for the franchise. Kohli, who recently announced that he will step down as India’s captain in T20Is to manage his workload, announced in a video posted on social media by RCB’s official handle.
Loyalty above everything
‘To the whole RCB family, the amazing fans of Bangalore, and to everyone, who has been a supporter of RCB for so many years, I had an announcement to make. Spoken to the squad this evening, before the second leg of the tournament starts, to inform everyone that this is going to be my last leg in the IPL as the captain of RCB’ Virat stated.
He added “This will be my last IPL as captain of RCB. I’ll continue to be an RCB player till I play my last IPL game. I thank all the RCB fans for believing in me and supporting me,”
Kohli’s journey with RCB – 14 Seasons, 200 Matches
Kohli is the only player to have played for a single franchise since the IPL’s inception. Virat, like its fans, has been a part of RCB since its inception. In the 200 matches he has played, he has scored 6081 runs at an average of 37.77. In addition, he has 5 centuries and 40 half-centuries to his credit.
Virat’s partner in crime AB De Villiers congratulated him on this achievement and tweeted “Hey skip, congratulations for your 200th game for RCB. It’s a wonderful achievement. We are very privileged to go out there with you on your 200th game for the franchise. We are very proud. You are an absolute legend for this team. We don’t always tell you that. Appreciate everything you do for this team,”
Virat standing at the top – IPL top batsmen
Let me ask you an easy trivia question?
Who do you think is the top scorer of IPL history?
Now you may be a casual or a hardcore fan of the game, but I guarantee one name that will come to your mind is ‘The Run Machine’ Virat Kohli.
Kohli was acquired on a youth contract by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2008, but he struggled to build a name for himself in the early seasons. However, after Daniel Vettori’s retirement in 2013, he established himself as one of the best batsmen in the world and was elected captain in the 2013 season itself. Virat is the only batsman to score 6000 runs in the IPL. He has scored 6081 at an average of 37.77, followed by Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, and Rohit Sharma,
He was awarded the Orange Cap at the end of the 2016 season after scoring 973 runs in 16 matches.
2016 – A dream year for Virat Kohli
For Virat Kohli, the 2016 IPL season was his best yet. In 2016, he scored 1,940 runs in international cricket and 973 runs in the Indian Premier League, with an average of 81.08 and the best score of 113, including four hundred and seven fifties.
Virat Kohli has already broken the record for most runs scored by an individual in an IPL season, surpassing Gayle’s 733 in 2012.
Before the IPL 2016, Kohli had not scored a single century in T20 cricket. He was not able to replicate his ability to score big centuries in T20s like the way he did in ODIs and Test. But in the ninth edition of the IPL, he turned it all around in spectacular fashion.
Kohli ended up hitting four centuries in the 2016 IPL. This is still the most hundreds scored by a batsman in a single edition of a T20 tournament anywhere in the world. To put it in context, Chris Gayle (2011), Hashim Amla (2017), and Shane Watson have the second-highest number of tonnes by a batsman in an IPL season (2018).
Highest of highs and lowest of lows
Although the figures imply that captain Kohli has done well in recent years, with a solid average of 35 in the last few years, these numbers aren’t up to skipper Kohli’s standards. In 2021, he has struggled to score, averaging only 29.
In Tests, a format he enjoys, he hasn’t been at his best as a batter averaging 26.80 in the last 12 tests. Kohli hasn’t hit a long-form century in nearly two years. He indicated when announcing his decision to step down as national T20 captain that he was taking steps to better manage his workload, and that this would help him achieve that goal.
Setbacks and Comebacks – the recipe of a champion player
Virat Kohli may not have performed to his best abilities in recent years, but he has exhibited throughout his career that he is a competitor. Backing up is not an option for him, whether it’s on his 2014 England trip or in his initial IPL seasons.
Virat Kohli will have the opportunity on Friday to become the first Indian batsman to surpass 10,000 runs in the T20s. The RCB captain is just 66 runs away from hitting this milestone in his T20 career, with 9934 runs to his name. Kohli would join Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Shoaib Malik, and David Warner as the fifth batsman in history to attain the milestone.