He admitted to feeling “not 100%,” acknowledging the difficulties of playing on a sluggish, heat-affected wicket but expressed satisfaction with his aggressive strategy, particularly during the powerplay where he aimed to seize early momentum.
“Much better than the last match, still not at 100%, knee was sore during the last game, and I’ve also been under the weather for the past four or five days. I’m pleased with my intensity; I wanted to confront the game head-on. I should have finished it as well. The pitch had less grass, making it slower than usual, and the last few days have been quite hot—it was a different challenge. The goal was to take control from the opposition in the powerplay. I’m satisfied with my approach today,” said Virat Kohli after reclaiming the Orange Cap.
While he was happy with his intensity, the former captain was critical of not finishing the game. Kohli played a typical innings during the chase, scoring well over 200 at the start as RCB swiftly responded to Phil Salt’s early dismissal.
He notched up four boundaries in a single over from Prince Yadav, and together with Devdutt Padikkal, they added 57 runs for the second wicket; Padikkal’s contribution was a modest 10 runs before he was dismissed.
However, the former skipper fell short of yet another IPL fifty, caught by Nicholas Pooran off pacer Avesh Khan’s delivery at long-on.
Meanwhile, Patidar continued his impressive six-hitting, launching two against Mohammed Shami and one off Prince, significantly reducing RCB’s target.
Both Patidar and Jitesh Sharma fell in their attempt to complete the chase swiftly, but they had already done enough to secure the points from the match.
