Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) cheeky dig at Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) premier batter Virat Kohli featuring a witty Shubman Gill post sparked a hilarious meme fest on Twitter.

 

LSG's jibe at Virat Kohli came after the Gujarat Titans (GT) opener ended RCB's dream of qualifying for the playoffs with a stunning unbeaten century at the Mangalam Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday, leaving the home side's fans in tears.

Shubman Gill's effort was all the more important for the defending champions given that Virat Kohli's record seventh IPL ton had helped RCB to a massive total of 197/5 in their allocated 20 overs. However, Shubman Gill overshadowed the former India and RCB captain's heroics as he smashed a blistering 104* off 52 deliveries, sealing a magnificent win over RCB in the final over of the contest in Bengaluru.

It is worth noting that Shubman Gill is said to be Virat Kohli's heir-apparent in cricket, and following in the footsteps of his idol, the Punjab-born batter slammed a second consecutive hundred in the tournament to power Gujarat Titans to a six-wicket triumph over the home favorites.

GT's win meant RCB's wait for a maiden IPL trophy extended to another year. Ironically, despite having Virat Kohli as part of their side, the franchise has spent 16 futile years without winning a title in the cash-rich league.

Moreover, the Hardik Pandya-led side's victory ensured that the Gautam Gambhir-mentored LSG would no longer face RCB in the Eliminator.

LSG subsequently mocked Virat Kohli with a witty Twitter post featuring Shubman Gill.

While the Delhi-born superstar is called the “King” in world cricket, Shubman Gill is hailed as the “Prince”, considering former cricketers believe he would take over from Virat Kohli in different versions of the sport.

However, taking a cheeky swipe at Virat Kohli, LSG labeled Shubman Gill as the “King”. Sharing a picture of Shubman Gill on the microblogging platform, LSG wrote, “Prince? He's already a King (with a crown emoji).”

LSG and RCB shared a frosty relationship during the IPL 2023 after Gautam Gambhir and Naveen-ul-Haq's ugly verbal spat with Virat Kohli earlier.

Since then, LSG supporters and Naveen-ul-Haq have taken multiple swipes at Virat Kohli. On the other hand, Virat Kohli's admirers haven't stayed far behind, mocking both Gautam Gambhir and Naveen-ul-Haq on social media regularly.

Returning to the RCB vs. GT clash, Virat Kohli said his T20 game was back to his best. Though the talismanic batter was disappointed with his side's defeat, he was happy with how he was striking the ball on the ground.

“I felt great. A lot of people feel my T20 cricket is declining, but I don't feel like that at all. I feel I am playing my best T20 cricket again. I'm just enjoying myself, this is how I play T20 cricket. I look to hit gaps, hit a lot of boundaries and the big ones in the end if the situation allows me to,” Virat Kohli told Ravi Shastri after RCB's loss.

“Strike rates, all those kind of things like I said in the past as well… You have to read the situation and rise up to the occasion when the situation demands, and that's something I take a lot of pride in doing, and I've been doing it for a while now. I feel really good with my game at the moment and how I'm batting out there in the middle,” he added.

It is worth mentioning that it was Virat Kohli's seventh three-figure score in the IPL, taking him past his former RCB teammate Chris Gayle who has six centuries to his name in the premier T20 tournament.

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Of the seven, Virat Kohli has scored four of his hundreds at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in the Karnataka capital, making him the only batter to have four tons at a single IPL venue. In the previous match against SRH, the 34-year-old had equaled Chris Gayle's feat after scoring his sixth IPL hundred, his first since 2019.

Also, India's most successful Test captain took his overall tally of T20 hundreds to eight. While he has scored seven in the IPL, the ex-India skipper made one for Team India in the Asia Cup last year.

RCB skipper Faf du Plessis termed the result disappointing, while Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya gave the credit for the win to his team's all-round display.

“Obviously very disappointing. We got a really strong team tonight; excellent innings by Shuman Gill. There was a lot of grip in the second innings. I thought 195-200 was a good score. We needed that wicket of Shubman. From our batting perspective, our top four contributed really well… We missed a few runs consistently throughout the season, especially in the back-end of the innings. Perhaps in the middle [overs], we didn't get as many wickets as we would have liked. We need a good middle order, and make sure we finish games off. Last season it was DK, but this season it wasn't to be,” Faf du Plessis stated.

“We wanted the momentum going, and wanted to finish on a high. As a bowler, Gill doesn't give you a chance. Other batters also get confidence from it. We would have taken 197 at the start. We should have bowled good balls. Special innings from Virat as well. I can't ask for anything better. Last year, everything went our way. This year, we were expecting people to challenge us. A lot of credit goes to all the boys,” Hardik Pandya concluded.

On the other hand, Shubman Gill, chosen as the Player of the Match, was delighted to guide his side to another win in the IPL.

“It's all about getting a start and converting it into a big one. Thankfully it's working out for me in the business end. You have to keep applying yourself, that's important. The new ball was holding on a bit. The ball was getting wet with the dew. I thought Vijay Shankar was trying to go too hard. Once he found the momentum, he hit it a long way. I know my game… for any player it's important to know who you are,” he underlined.