Kohli scored 23 runs in the first innings on Day 1.
Former Indian captain Virat Kohli returned to his second home in Bengaluru after playing his 100th Test in Mohali. The 33-year-old batter from Delhi has played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) from the very first IPL season in 2008 and now treats the city like home.
Although RCB have not won the IPL title and Kohli has passed on the captaincy baton to Faf du Plessis for the 2022 season, his popularity with the local fans remains just as strong as ever.
With India playing Sri Lanka in the second and final Test with the pink ball under lights, the crowd turned up in numbers to support the Indian team and Kohli in particular who is playing his 101st Test for the country. KSCA had confirmed 100% capacity would be allowed and the stands were expectedly packed on the opening day.
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Kohli, looked good but only scored 23 before he was deceived by off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva and the tricky pitch as the ball kept really low with the batter getting trapped in front of his stumps.
India scored 252 in their first innings with Shreyas Iyer making 92 to ensure the hosts got a really good total on the board on a challenging surface. In reply, Sri Lanka were tottering at 86/6 when play was called off for the day.
During Sri Lanka's innings, Kohli was often seen interacting with the Bengaluru fans, as he got them to cheer for the fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah (3/15) and Mohammad Shami (2/18) who wrecked havoc with the pink ball under lights.
On one particular occasion he made a heart gesture in response to the fans chanting 'RCB, RCB' and then he was seen pointing to the red material he was wearing under his jersey. The franchise wears the colors red and black.
The Bengaluru fans will hope to see Kohli get a sizeable score under his belt in the second innings, before he joins the franchise for the IPL 2022 season, to be played in Maharashtra.