“It is very bad news for somebody” - Former cricketer’s massive claim on Virat Kohli’s 54 in LSG vs RCB IPL 2025 match

Former India batter Abhinav Mukund has said that the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) were on the wrong side of a riled-up Virat Kohli in their six-wicket loss to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 league stage. The Jitesh Sharma-led side secured a historic victory to finish in the top two after chasing down the 228-run target.

Virat Kohli played a massive role during the run chase, providing the early spark and platform to keep RCB in the hunt, and for the middle order to come into play. The ace batter scored 54 runs off 30 deliveries at a strike rate of 180, before being dismissed by Avesh Khan in the 12th over.

As breezy as his knock was, it was not the story in the first innings. Kohli cut a frustrated figure in the early half of the contest. His reservations against a review were not considered, while there were constant misfields all over the place, with Kohli himself being responsible for one.

Abhinav Mukund opined that Kohli channeled all of his frustration to take on the LSG bowling unit in the run chase. The ace batter had shown intent from the word go after smashing three fours in a row in the second over off William O'Rourke.

"I mean with this all due respect to Kohli, but I just feel that he was riled up after that first innings, and it is very bad news for somebody, today it just ended up being LSG. He came in with all of those juices flowing, with the anger of the first innings, those misfields, and the lacklustre bowling performance. It just gave him another gear, I feel.

"He was batting beautifully. I think this is one of his best fifties of the season, by what I saw, because whatever he attempted, he would have got atleast 80-85 percent (of control) or higher. That is incredible to have." he added.

RCB were placed at 123-4 after Kohli's dismissal. The pair of Jitesh Sharma and Mayank Agarwal put on an incredible unbeaten partnership for the fifth wicket to get the team over the line.

Virat Kohli has scored 602 runs in 13 innings in IPL 2025

The ace batter is enjoying yet another fine season following his Orange Cap exploits in the previous campaign. He has crossed the 600-run threshold for the third season in a row, and is currently the fifth-highest run-scorer in IPL 2025. Kohli averages 60.20 along with a strike rate of 147.27, to mark a memorable individual campaign already.

RCB will face the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier 1 in Mullanpur on Thursday, May 29.