Virat Kohli delivered a Player-of-the-Match performance in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) five-wicket victory over Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday (April 24).

Chasing 206 to win, Kohli slammed 81 off 44 balls and added 115 runs for the second wicket with Devdutt Padikkal (55 off 27) to help RCB overhaul the target with seven deliveries to spare.

Speaking during the post-match presentation, Kohli stressed the importance of assessing the pitch early against a "quality bowling attack" while chasing a formidable target.

“We had to kind of assess the wicket early on because A, they have a quality bowling attack and B, with a chase of 200 in Bangalore, we know we're only one partnership away. So I think the conversation between me and Bethell was to try and analyse first couple of overs what's going on and then try and take the game on from there,” Kohli said.

He praised Padikkal for playing "good cricketing shots" without slogging, specifically mentioning a magnificent hit off Kagiso Rabada.

“I think Dev's done this twice this season where he's come in and absolutely played a blinder from ball one. You know, the first ball he hit off Rabada was magnificent and he has the game awareness and the ability, especially in conditions like ours, to be able to play good cricketing shots and hurt opposition, striking over 200, which is quite rare, to be honest,” Kohli stated.

“You never see him slogging the ball. You feel like he's not giving you a sniff in the game and yet he's scoring so freely. So I think Dev's innings was the clear difference in the first half. And then I was just trying to stay, in the game enough so that he doesn't feel all the pressure. And it was my responsibility to try and hit boundaries at the right times. And yeah, that partnership was the gamesealer and the gamechanger for us eventually,” he added.

Kohli credited the RCB bowlers for pulling things back after GT's strong start (128/0 at one stage), restricting them to a total he felt was 20-25 runs short of what the pitch offered.

“I mean, look, even in our bowling innings, I think we bowled really well to pull things back. They were about, I felt, 20-25 short in the end. We were looking at 230, 235 at one stage. But our bowlers did a magnificent job and the feedback was the pitch is not bad at all,” he remarked.

Kohli opened up on the tactical conversations with Padikkal to maintain intent and clarity throughout the chase.

“It's probably the best batting conditions we've had so far. The ball was coming on nicely. The spinners were not quite getting the ball to grip. It wasn't holding into the pitch. So we felt like if you stay in the game enough, string in a big partnership, then it's going to get tougher and tougher. And yeah, once you get hold of the conditions and you get on top of the bowlers, then you obviously back yourselves a little more to take the game on. And that was the conversation.

“Dev was going great guns and the idea was just to, keep pressing the bowlers back. And whoever we felt like, we want to take down, the message was very clear from the batsmen and then the non-striker saying, yeah, go for it. So there was intent and there was clarity and feedback from the other end. So we didn't have any doubts whatsoever through the partnership. And I think that's what worked for us," he said.

Kohli attributed the team's high confidence and positive body language to a strong belief in their abilities and a deep batting lineup.

He praised the power of Tim David and Romario Shepherd, along with the "cricket smarts" of Krunal Pandya, who helped close out the match under pressure.

"Look, I mean, the body language comes from, a belief that you have in your abilities, and to be honest, we have a tremendous batting lineup. If you look at the talent on display, we have guys who can hit good cricketing shots and hurt bowlers. Then we have the power of Tim David and Romario, and then you have the cricket smarts of Krunal, who can come in under pressure and, play a knock like that and, really understands the game. You can see it in his bowling as well, so I think the combination we have is something that gives us a lot of confidence to go out there and play like that.”

Kohli revealed the team message is to "back yourself" and play aggressive cricket because they have high batting depth.

“The message in the group is simple. If you see a ball to hit, you back yourself, go for it, because we have the batting depth and we have the confidence in the group as well.”

The game also marked RCB’s final league-stage appearance at the Chinnaswamy Stadium this season. The defending IPL champions played five matches at the iconic venue and won four of them. They are set to travel to Raipur for their remaining home matches.

Reflecting on their campaign at home, Kohli said: "Yeah, brilliant. I mean, firstly, we're quite happy that we were able to, play five games here. The fans get to see the team again, and yeah, it's just a special place to play cricket, and hopefully at the later stages of the tournament, we can come back here and, entertain the crowd once more. So, yeah, let's see what happens, but yeah, it's been brilliant to play at home and win, what, four out of five that we've won here, so it's been a great start."