On Thursday, April 25, the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad hosted a match between the reigning Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) teams, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). After winning the toss, RCB captain Faf du Plessis decided to bat first.
Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli combined for 48 runs to give RCB a strong start, and in the fourth over, T. Natarajan dismissed the captain for just 25 runs. However, Kohli persisted in displaying his powerful strikes. The former RCB captain showed off his power hitting ability, but as the innings went on, his pace dropped. His innings were notable for finishing at a moderate strike rate of 118.60, with 51 runs off 43 deliveries.
After the visiting captain was removed in the fourth over, Pat Cummins sent Mayank Markande into the attack. This was a wise move, as Markande removed Will Jacks, who scored a meagre six runs. Rajat Patidar then hit 27 runs off his third over, launching an incredible attack on the leggie. He reached his fifty in just 19 deliveries and, more importantly, forged a 50-run partnership with Virat Kohli.
Also read: SRH vs. RCB, Match 41: Top 10 Memes from IPL 2024
Then, after Patidar achieved his half-century, Jaydev Unadkat gave SRH a significant breakthrough by dismissing him with the very next ball. In contrast, Kohli reached fifty runs off 37 balls but played a helpless shot in response to a delivery from Unadkat in the fifteenth over. In his 100th IPL encounter, the left-arm medium bowler dismissed Mahipal Lomror for his third wicket of the evening. Furthermore, RCB managed to achieve a total of 206 in their allocated 20 overs despite losing wickets at frequent intervals.
Fans’ reactions to Virat Kohli’s sluggish knock against SRH were as follows:
Tuk tuk kohli
51 on 43 balls #IPL2024 #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/vAKwnU3PAr— ЅᏦᎽ (@13hamdard) April 25, 2024
I am a Virat fan too but he needs to understand that T20 cricket is all about strike rate, and Virat is not implementing it…
He tried hitting last 10 balls but slower ones is not picked by him rightly…#ViratKohli
— Darshan.M (@Darshan_M71) April 25, 2024
Virat bat today with only 118SR 43(51)
#RCBvsSRH #SRHvsRCB #ViratKohli #ViratKohli𓃵 #IPL2024 #chokli #selfish pic.twitter.com/2qMvzYMqRv
— Roast Gaming 2.0 (@roast_gaming2) April 25, 2024
@srhfansofficial will smash this without loosing wicket
What a useless batting on a flat surface @RCBTweets yet again failed to read the conditions of the pitch
Unacceptable inning from #ViratKohli #IPL2024— ARSHM (@ArshAyubM) April 25, 2024
That’s a questionable innings by Virat Kohli
@imVkohli 51 from 43
??#RCBvsSRH#IPL2024 #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/B35eAnIIcd
— NIKHIL BANALA (@NIKHILBANALA2) April 25, 2024
#ViratKohli scored 51 of 42 balls against SRH.
Meanwhile Harsha Bhogle: pic.twitter.com/gZXX1BWf8K— GAURAV HALDER (@GAURRAVHALDER) April 25, 2024
Orange cap to apni hi hai
#SRHvsRCB #RCBvsSRH #RCBvSRH #IPL2024 #IPL2024live #ViratKohli #SRHvsRCB pic.twitter.com/T1hTbWYfHB— Chennai Super Kings fan club
(@VedBabu14) April 25, 2024
#ViratKohli #statpadd #RCBvsSRH #RCB Kohli plays 25 off 25 balls,this don’t allow other batters to settle.This keeps pressure on other batters,they just swing their bats & throw their wickets.Terrific knock of patidar wasted.
— Tony Stark (@Taurus_Bigbull) April 25, 2024
Hope now everyone will accept my comment over #ViratKohli
Just eating all the balls
Does anyone have the guts to talk about him ?#IPL2024#SRHvRCB @StarSportsTamil commentary team..
Fyi https://t.co/zZCXlMzVM7— Venniradai Moorthy (@samuel__Robin) April 25, 2024