A wave of memes, poking fun at BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) secretary Jay Shah, erupted on X after Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made a royal comeback to make it through to the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs after eliminating Chennai Super Kings (CSK) from the event last week.

Fans alleged that Jay Shah, the all-powerful boss of the Indian Cricket Board, was behind ousting CSK from the competition because he wanted to deny MS Dhoni a grand farewell.

Though MS Dhoni hasn't made any announcement about his future, speculation is rife that he could have played his last game in the IPL. After all, he is 42 and has an injury-prone body, which troubled him throughout the present season of the IPL.

Some pointed out that as per Jay Shah's script, RCB will beat SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final to claim their maiden IPL title, thus avenging their defeat in the 2016 title clash.

Remarkably, RCB's sixth consecutive triumph in the 2024 IPL helped them in progressing to the tournament's knockout stage.

Midway through the IPL, RCB looked down and out, as they were lying at the bottom of the table with only a single win to show in the Win/Loss column.

But their turnaround was led by Virat Kohli, the only player to score over 700 runs in the current edition of the IPL.

Once again, Virat Kohli played a crucial role in RCB's win as he scripted history at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The 35-year-old smashed a quickfire 47 off 29 balls to become the first cricketer to complete more than 3000 runs at a single venue in the competition.

En route to his explosive knock, Virat Kohli's tally at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium surged to 3040 runs in 89 games.

Following Virat Kohli in the elite list is Rohit Sharma. The 37-year-old has made 2295 runs in 80 fixtures at Mumbai's iconic Wankhede Stadium.

It was a double delight for Virat Kohli during the weekend. Besides completing 3000 runs at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, he sealed RCB's spot in the IPL playoffs with a sixth consecutive triumph, ousting defending champions CSK from the 17th edition of the cash-rich league.

The former India captain began his innings with an aggressive approach in the powerplay as he struck a couple of massive sixes, including a 98m maximum off the bowling of Tushar Pandey in the third over of RCB's essay.

Virat Kohli led RCB's onslaught in the early overs of the contest as skipper Faf du Plessis struggled to find his touch initially.

With Virat Kohli dealing in sixes and boundaries, he looked all set for another century in the IPL. However, the introduction of spin after the powerplay put a break on his brisk run scoring.

New Zealand's left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, who has historically posed problems for Virat Kohli in both international and IPL games, was on the money from the word go.

As Virat Kohli found the going tough against him, he tried to hit him over the ropes. But he perished in one such attempt as he was caught at long-on in the 10th over.

Despite Virat Kohli's dismissal, RCB posted a healthy total of 218/5 on the board, with Faf du Plessis (54 off 39), Rajat Patidar (41 off 23), and Cameron Green (38* off 17) being the other main contributors to their score.

In reply, CSK made a disastrous start as they lost their captain Ruturaj Gaikwad for nought on the first ball of their innings.

Subsequently, CSK fell short by 27 runs as they could only score 191/7 in their allocated 20 overs.

Former Team India cricketers Virender Sehwag, and Aakash Chopra praised Virat Kohli for his batting performance in the match against CSK.

The former India openers also hailed RCB for their improbable-looking comeback in the tournament.

“The start was important, and the start he [Virat Kohli] gave was brilliant. Faf du Plessis scored more runs, but the momentum Kohli set was needed. Got out after scoring 47 but the strike rate was 162. Brilliant batting from Virat. He has done what he is known for. Virat Kohli is the big player of big match, I enjoyed a lot [bade match ke bade player hai Virat Kohli toh dekhkar bada anand aaya mujhe]. Happy that he made runs and team also won. Otherwise most of the time, he performed and team failed to win, feels bad about it. But today, he clicked and the team also won and qualified for playoffs. So double party today,” Virender Sehwag told Cricbuzz.

“What a game, what a season. Such comebacks are also possible. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru did an incredible job – Royal Comeback Bengaluru. They changed their name this year and have changed their deeds. The start was not that good. It seemed like they wouldn't be able to go anywhere. Take a bow,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.