Before Thursday's match against Gujarat Titans (GT) almost everyone, including Virat Kohli had lost all hope of reviving his fortunes as the former India batsman was considering taking a break from cricket for some time.
However, Kohli is called a run-machine for a reason. It is often said that it is a delight to watch the Delhi-born batsman when he is in full flow.
Against the Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat, it was the return of vintage Virat Kohli as he looked every bit of his previous self, a man who used to toy with opposition bowlers and made big scores just for fun.
The 33-year-old star cricketer, who has been severely hampered by his dubious off-stump play had no doubts whatsoever against GT as the RCB batter seemed to have found his mojo back.
Not only did Kohli delight his fans with his trademark cover drives but smashed two massive sixes as well in his match-winning knock of 73 off 54 deliveries.
Kohli's brilliant innings came after the Ahmedabad-based franchise posted a competent 168/5 in their quota of 20 overs, thanks largely to captain Hardik's 62 off 47 balls.
But the day belonged to Virat Kohli indeed. As soon as RCB started their chase, the signs were ominous for junior Pandya and his team with the ex-India captain nonchalantly hitting the ball up in the air for two boundaries off Mohammed Shami in the third over.
As the time went by Kohli became more and more confident in his ability as he struck three fours in Hardik's second over.
Virat Kohli, then got to his fifty in style as he launched Rashid Khan into the stands on the first ball of the 10th over.
Kohli then motored along nicely and struck another six off the bowling of the Afghan spinner before getting dismissed to the same bowler in the 17th over.
Before his walk back to the pavilion, however, Kohli had sealed the match for RCB. Eventually, the Karnataka-based side went on to register a comfortable 8-wicket win to keep themselves in the hunt for a playoffs berth.
CLASS IS PERMANENT. 🔥#𝐕𝐊𝟏𝟖 👑 #PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPL2022 #Mission2022 #RCB #ನಮ್ಮRCB #RCBvGT #TheKing pic.twitter.com/XknjRzAh1I
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) May 19, 2022
Yet it was Kohli's knock that caught everyone's attention as the hashtag “The King is back” began trending on Twitter.
The cricketer is called “King Kohli” in cricketing circles and that is the reason, the fans took to the micro-blogging platform to share their views on his stupendous knock.
“The comeback is always stronger than the setback….and the king is back,” a user tweeted.
“Class is permanent,” another said.
“Out of words. Don't know what to say. Can I say the king is back. No, I don't believe that because he is always in form for me. I am not a fan of winning. I am a fan of Virat Kohli,” declared a third.
“A poetry in motion to watch Virat Kohli bat in flow, it was that kinda knock,” a fourth declared.
Meanwhile, there were others, who termed him the GOAT, a reference to the “greatest of all time.”
On the other hand, former India leg-spinner Amit Mishra dubbed him as the “king of all seasons.”
“King for a reason, king of all seasons. Really happy to see our champ Virat Kohli is back in his ferocious form,” Mishra posted on Twitter.
Kohli was adjudged the Man of the Match for his masterful innings. Later the former RCB captain revealed that he batted for 90 consecutive minutes in the nets on Wednesday and it certainly helped him against Gujarat today.
Earlier, he had taken a dig at his critics who were continuously posing questions to him about his barren spell with the bat, via RepublicWorld.com:
“I'm actually in the happiest phase of my life. I am not finding any self-worth or value in what I do on the field. I'm way past that phase. This is a phase of evolution for me,” Kohli told Star Sports.
But Kohli rubbished the speculation that he had lost his drive and passion for cricket saying that he still loved the game as he did in his prime:
“Not to say that I don't have the same drive, my drive will never die down. The day my drive goes away, I'll not be playing this game.
“But to understand that some things are not controllable, the only controllable you have are things that you can work towards, which is working hard on the field and in life as well and from that point of view, I feel that I am in the most balanced space that I have ever been and I am happy with who I am and how I am leading my life.”
Needless to say, this was truly a majestic performance.
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