Star India batter Virat Kohli is currently in Mumbai to take part in the opening ODI of the three-match series against Australia on Friday (March 17).
Ahead of the 50-over series opener, Kohli met the Royal Challengers Bangalore women’s cricket team and gave them a pep talk ahead of their sixth match in the ongoing Women’s Premier League at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.
Having lost five successive games, RCB were down and out and the Smriti Mandhana-led side got the much-needed motivation from Virat, who has been associated with the franchise since the inception of the IPL in 2008.
In a video released by RCB on Twitter, Kohli cited the example of his own struggles in the IPL and motivated the female cricketers to do well despite the undesirable outcome.
"I've been playing IPL for 15 years. And I haven't won it yet. But that doesn't stop me from being excited every year. That's all I can do. That's the effort I can put into every game and every tournament that I play,” Kohli said.
“If we win, great. If we don't, then I am not going to go to my grave thinking that if only I had won an IPL, I would be a happy man. It doesn't happen like that. So always think about the opportunity that you have rather than how bad it is right now. There is always a flip side to it, and it could always be worse than this. And the fact that we haven't won the IPL, but I still feel that we have the best fans in the world. Only because we were always committed to every game that we played for RCB. That has been the most special thing for our fans. There's no guarantee of giving you a cup every year, but there's a guarantee of giving your 110% every year, and that's all you can strive to do," he added.
It seems that the interactive session with Virat Kohli benefitted the RCB cricketers as they finally tasted success in the WPL 2023.
The match against UP Warriorz was a must-win for them to stay alive in the competition and RCB put up a strong show to register a convincing five-wicket victory.
Opting to bowl first, RCB bundled out the Warriorz for a paltry 135 in 19.3 overs. Ellyse Perry starred with the ball, claiming three wickets by conceding only 16 runs in her four overs while Sophie Devine (2-23) and Asha Shobana (2-27) returned with two scalps each.
In reply, RCB rode on Kanika Ahuja’s 30-ball 46 and Richa Ghosh’s unbeaten 31 to overhaul the target with two overs to spare.
