"Faf said that I have a gut feel that one of the top three is going to get a hundred" - Virat Kohli 

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) opening batter Virat Kohli has revealed his conversation with captain Faf du Plessis ahead of the 187-run chase against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Thursday, May 18, in Hyderabad.

SRH rode on the sheer brilliance of wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen's 51-ball 104 to push their score to 186/5 after they were asked to bat first.

In a must win game for RCB to stay in the playoffs race, openers Kohli and du Plessis build a 172-run stand to pave the way for a comfortable chase.

Kohli shifted his gears in the 15th over as he smashed four boundaries off Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He later flicked one against Bhuvneshwar for a six over mid-wicket to notch his sixth IPL hundred. The former Indian captain was dismissed for 100 off 63 balls - his innings was laced with 12 fours and four sixes.

RCB eventually won by eight wickets after sealing the chase in 19.2 overs and pipped the Mumbai Indians (MI) for fourth place in the points table on a superior net run rate (+0.18).

In an conversation with Faf du Plessis posted on the official IPL website, Virat Kohli mentioned that du Plessis had a gut feeling that he would score a hundred.

Virat Kohli said:

"Just before we went in to bat, we had a conversation, and Faf said that I have a gut feel that one of the top three is going to get a hundred. Then I said the odds someone getting a hundred looks like you right now because of the way you are batting. He said I think it's you."

He added:

"I honestly didn't feel like it's going to happen so quickly in two-three overs time but I am more happy about the fact that we got a decent start. That partnership really set things nicely for us. You know the crunch game and this is exactly what we play for."

---

"Just wanted to join in and make an impact as well" - Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has had an outstanding season in IPL 2023 given the way he struggled to fetch runs last season (341 runs at 22.73). Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell have contributed the majority of the runs for their team this season.

Kohli has scored 538 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 135.86, including six fifties and a century. However, the former RCB captain felt he wasn't contributing enough with the bat unlike Faf and Maxwell.

Kohli said:

"I have been batting in the nets. I couldn't really bring that game to the surface in the middle. I just felt this pitch was nice enough with the new ball specially. I wanted to pick my game at this stage because I felt you (Faf) and Maxie have really taken your game to the next level. I just wanted to join in and make an impact as well."

RCB will play their final league match against table leaders Gujarat Titans on Sunday (May 21) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.