RCB Trophy-Less In IPL, How Virat Kohli Reacted To Orange Cap Feat

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) struggled to impose themselves in the first half of the Indian Premier 2024 season, suffering 7 losses in the first 8 games they played. Though Virat Kohli was the only player in the team scoring runs consistently, he too came in the line of fire, as critics questioned his strike-rate and intent en route to the big scores he managed to put on the board. In the second-half of the season, however, Kohli didn’t just improve his strike-rate, he looked to play with a lot more intent. When Dinesh Karthik was asked about the criticism Virat faced, he thanked ‘experts’ for spurring the RCB batter on by targeting him.

Virat finished the 17th edition of IPL as the Orange Cap winner after smashing a total of 741 runs in 15 innings. He averaged 61.75. and achieved a strike rate of 154.69 in the IPL 2024. Thanks to Kohli’s resurgence in the second-half of the campaign, RCB recorded 6 wins on the trot to qualify for the playoffs, though they were knocked out in the Eliminator by Rajasthan Royals.

In a chat on Cricbuzz, Karthik addressed the gruelling topic of Virat’s strike-rate saying he could write a book about it.

“I can write a book on how he was this year. He started okay but thanks to people like Simon (Doull) and a few others, they just really spurred him on. And you don’t want to see that side of Virat Kohli. I think he thrives on that. He is someone who inadvertently wants to hold on to certain things to do well,” Karthik said.

Kohli loves to prove people wrong, and often, showcases his true potential when criticised. The IPL 2024 season gave the world another fine example of the same.

“He loves proving people wrong, and even though he might not come out and say it, it really fuels his passion and he’s like a molten lava coming out. He’s fiery and you don’t want to be anywhere close to it because you’re going to get burnt for sure because he’s done this time and time again,” Karthik added.