With the curtains falling on the group stages of the Indian Premier League, four teams have made it to the playoffs. While the Gujarat Lions and the Royal Challengers Bangalore finished first and second respectively, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad occupied the remaining two slots. The first qualifier was played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore between the home team and the Gujarat Lions, let’s roll our clocks back a bit to the IPL group stage that was set alight by a certain Virat Kohli.
IPL 2016 till date, we can safely say has been Virat Kohli’s IPL. The Indian Test team captain and vice captain in limited overs cricket had been in great form before the tournament began.
Virat came into the tournament in a rich vein of form, helping India to the Asia Cup triumph and guiding the side to a World T20 semi-final which India lost to eventual champions West Indies. And he hasn’t looked back since the Asia Cup going from strength to strength in each game he has played and has almost made the Orange Cap (the leading run scorer in a season of the IPL is awarded the Orange Cap) his own.
Virat leads the table of run-scorers in the IPL this season with 919 runs breaking the record of his RCB teammate Chris Gayle and Michael Hussey, who shared the record for most runs scored in an IPL season with 733 runs. He is miles ahead of Ab de Villiers, who is second on the list with 682 runs.
Let’s take look back at some of the notable innings of Virat Kohli’s this season.
Match 1:
RCB played their first game of the season at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Bangalore pitch has always been batting friendly and it was no different for this game. Kohli opened the innings along with Chris Gayle but suffered an early blow as Gayle got out scoring only 1.
The onus was on the Bangalore captain to rebuild the innings after the early loss and he, along with de Villiers powered the Royal Challengers to score 227 from their 20 overs. He scored 75 runs off 51 balls, hitting 7 fours and 3 sixes before falling prey to Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s yorker. The score of 227 was too much for the Sunrisers and they fell short of the target.
Match 2:
In their second game, RCB faced the Delhi Daredevils and it was yet another Kohli show. Opening the batting and losing his partner for naught, Kohli took it upon himself to score big for the Royal Challengers and made 79 runs from only 48 balls, hitting 7 boundaries and 3 sixes.
Kohli was caught by Shreyas Iyer off Shami’s bowling, but before getting out Kohli made sure Bangalore put up a huge total of 191 on the board. But Kohli’s brilliant innings of 79 was overshadowed by a Quinton de Kock ton which helped the Daredevils beat Bangalore.
Match 3:
Virat Kohli scored his third half century in 4 games with an innings of 80 from 63 balls against the Rising Pune Supergiants in Pune and helped the Royal Challengers to their second victory of the campaign after suffering two back to back defeats.
Kohli and de Villiers were at it again in Pune, with the latter scoring a blistering 83 to help Bangalore to 185. The Supergiants were not able to beat the Bangalore team as they fell 13 runs short of the target.
Match 4:
The stage was set at Rajkot for a Kohli special. With 3 50’s from 4 games the crowd at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium was anticipating a big innings from the Bangalore captain and he didn’t disappoint.
Kohli scored his first hundred of IPL 9 with a last ball boundary off Dwayne Bravo. Kohli carried the bat through the innings and finished with 100 runs from 63 ball with 11 fours to his name. Unlucky for him, Gujarat chased down the score of 180 with ease and Kohli’s brilliant innings went in vain.
Match 5:
RCB had suffered two back to back losses when the Kolkata Knight Riders visited them and Virat was back to his best after a dismal outing against the Sunrisers in Hyderabad. Coming in at his familiar number 3 spot, Virat scored yet another half-century.
KL Rahul and Kohli guided RCB to 185, with the RCB captain scoring 52 from 44 balls and hitting 4 boundaries. RCB were unlucky to lose the game as the Pathan and Russell show ensured that KKR reached the target comfortably.
Match 6:
Back to the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore and RCB was in dire needs of a win. They had lost 3 games on the trot and the Rising Pune Supergiants batting first had put up 191. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. RCB needed him and Kohli stepped up.
Scoring his second ton of the season, Kohli made sure Bangalore chased down 191 with 3 balls to spare. He stayed not out yet again scoring 108 runs from just 58 balls, entertaining the crowd with 8 fours and 7 sixes.
Match 7:
Royal Challengers Bangalore vs the Gujarat Lions in Bangalore and Kohli was at it again. And like always partnered by de Villiers, Kohli scored his third century of the season and the second against the Gujarat Lions. Kohli scored 109 off 55 balls while AB de Villiers scored 129 off 52, which saw Bangalore post a mammoth total of 248.
Kohli hit 5 fours and 8 sixes on course to score 109 runs. Gujarat chasing were only able to manage 104 and Kohli got his revenge for Rajkot, this time, his runs didn’t go in vain.
Match 8:
Eden Gardens, one of the greatest stadiums in Indian cricket got to witness another Kohli special just months after his match-winning innings against Pakistan in the World T20. Chasing 184, Bangalore with the help of their captain made a meal out of the target set by KKR.
Kohli once again partnered by de Villiers achieved the target in the 19th over and scored 75 runs from the 51 balls he faced. The Eden crowd cheered each of his 5 boundaries and 3 over-boundaries to the fullest.
Match 9:
It’s tough for a batsman to score 100 runs in 20 overs cricket, imagine how tough it could be to score a ton in 15 overs? Well for Virat Kohli it isn’t. A game where rain played spoilsport, the Chinnaswamy crowd saw the match against the Kings XI Punjab get reduced to 15 overs.
With RCB needing to win their last two games to make it to the playoffs, Bangalore was hoping for a Kohli special and he came up with the goods. Scoring 113 runs from a mere 50 balls, with a dozen boundaries and 8 sixes. Kohli powered RCB to 211 in just 15 overs. Kings XI were no match and finished with only 120 on the board.
Match 10:
A virtual quarter-final. Kohli-led RCB to Raipur, with both RCB and DD tied on 14 points and with all the other three playoffs spot booked, the winner of this game would make it to the final four. Delhi managed to score 138 only and given Bangalore’s batting strength, pundits thought it would be an easy game but Zaheer Khan and Chris Morris had something else in mind.
With Gayle and de Villiers going back to the dug-out early the job of guiding Bangalore to the playoffs was on Kohli’s shoulder. Kohli, with the help of Rahul, made sure Bangalore reached the target.
The RCB star scored 54 runs, that made half a dozen half centuries for him this IPL, from 45 balls and a very sensible innings from the man under the circumstances and pressure.
With Bangalore chasing their maiden IPL title and the Final being hosted in Bangalore itself, the Chinnaswamy faithful will expect RCB to win the final on 29 May. The Orange Cap is surely his and Kohli will look to win the IPL for Bangalore, a team he has been a part of since the inception of the IPL
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
