‘Getting him out early was crucial’- Kane Williamson calls Virat Kohli’s dismissal key for GT vs RCB

At the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, the Gujarat Titans (GT) defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by an important eight wickets in their IPL 2025 match. Following Virat Kohli’s early dismissal, which former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson feels was essential to GT’s victory, the game saw RCB struggle. Williamson talked about how RCB’s batting momentum was disrupted by Kohli’s early withdrawal, which was crucial to GT’s victory.

Arshad Khan got rid of Kohli in the second over, disappointing RCB, who mostly depended on their top player to support their batting. At deep backward square leg, the seasoned hitter smacked Prasidh Krishna squarely after attempting a pull shot off Khan’s brief delivery. When Kohli exited at 7 off 6 balls, RCB was at 8/1 and their middle order was exposed sooner than anticipated.

Virat has played that shot a million times before, so it was just an automatic one. It went directly to the fielder this time. He’s flicked it down the ground and hit it for six numerous times, but sometimes that’s just the way the game is. Virat is extremely destructive at Chinnaswamy, so it was a significant wicket for GT. He knows how to bat long and produce game-winning knocks, and he has amassed about 3,000 runs here. Therefore, it was essential for the Gujarat Titans to get him out early,” Williamson stated on JioHotstar.

In the middle overs, RCB may consider the following alternative strategy: Kane Williamson

Mohammed Siraj, who was instrumental for GT, further destroyed RCB’s batting order and won Player of the Match for his 3/19 session. Siraj took out Philip Salt and Devdutt Padikkal during the powerplay, allowing the visitors to take advantage of this breakthrough. Tim David scored 32 off 18, Jitesh Sharma scored 33 off 21, and Liam Livingstone scored 54 off 40 balls, but RCB was only able to reach 169/8 in the 20 overs they were given.

Gujarat’s batting order in response made the chase appear simple. The squad reached the mark in just 17.5 overs with eight wickets remaining thanks to Sherfane Rutherford’s undefeated 30 off 18, Jos Buttler’s 73* off 39 balls, and Sai Sudharsan’s 49 off 36. The New Zealand batter also explained where RCB had made a mistake and how they could fix it.

“Teams in the IPL are increasingly aiming for high totals, particularly at locations like Hyderabad and Bengaluru where high scores appear attainable. However, you can occasionally get ahead of yourself in your quest for those big totals. It’s critical to regroup and form a partnership after dropping a few early wickets.

“The final ten overs may be quite fruitful if you have wickets in hand, scoring at least 14 runs per over. After this game, RCB could think that they could have improved their setup if they had batted together for a few more overs. Although they performed exceptionally well in the first two games, they may reflect that they could have been in a better position on this surface with some help from seam bowlers if they had taken a different strategy in the middle overs, Williamson continued.