Pakistani pacer Junaid Khan took a funny dig at India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Virat Kohli, after his century in the 19th match of the IPL 2024. RCB faced Rajasthan Royals in a crunch match in Jaipur.
RR captain Sanju Samson won the toss and put RCB into bat first. Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis added 125 runs for the first wicket. RCB captain made 44 in 33 balls before being dismissed, but Virat Kohli continued on at one end on a sluggish pitch.
He finished with 113* in 72 balls with 12 fours and 4 sixes to his name as RCB posted 183/3 in 20 overs. Incidentally Kohli’s 8th IPL century came in 67 balls, giving him the unwanted record of the slowest-ever IPL ton.
The 35-year-old RCB veteran remarked that although the pitch appeared flat initially, it underwent a rapid transformation once they started their batting innings.
“The wicket looks quite different from out there when you are not actually playing the ball yourself. It feels like it's flat, but as soon as you see the ball holding up on the pitch, especially to the spinners, that's when you understand the pace is changing pretty quickly. The big dimensions come into play,” Kohli said after his century knock.
“Our target was 190-195, to be honest, but then, assessing the pitch and how it was slowing down, we decided if Faf or I get out, one has to stay till the end. We got the boost in the end. I think this is a very effective total because if you get your change of pace and length right, it's very difficult to get those balls away,” said Kohli.
Apart from du Plessis' contribution of 44 runs, the other RCB batters struggled to make significant contributions in the match.
“I'm not coming (to bat) with premeditation. Whatever the surface allows me to do, I'll do that. Today, I wasn't 20 off 9, I was 12 off 10. I knew I couldn't go overaggressive, I didn't want to be predictable.
I know I can step up at any point, but I want to keep the bowler guessing. They probably want me to come hard at them so they can get me out, but I feel like if I'm set, and bat beyond six overs, then my chances of getting good totals become higher. It's just experience and maturity over the years to understand the situation and conditions. I play my conditions and have my game ready to play in different ways,” he added.
While he explained the rationale behind his slow century, his one-time rival Pakistani pacer Junaid Khan took a sly dig at the Indian batting icon. He took to X and congratulated Kohli on the slowest IPL century.
“Congratulations Virat kholi on the slowest 100 in the history of IPL” Junaid Khan posted on X.
Junaid Khan’s post resulted in the fans reacting to the knock as well. Several fans justified Kohli’s knock, while other shared Junaid’s record against Virat.
Here are some posts:
