Virat Kohli was labeled a dog of MS Dhoni after Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) exited the Indian Premier League (IPL) following their loss to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the eliminator. “Kohli Dog of Dhoni” began trending on X as MS Dhoni's admirers tore apart Virat Kohli for his wild celebrations after RCB knocked out CSK from the 2024 IPL in the previous game.

After their defeat “Haarcb” and “Dear RCB” also found a spot on the microblogging site as netizens shared their reactions on another season where Virat Kohli and his men failed to win the coveted title.

RCB's wait for their maiden IPL trophy will now extend to the 18th season after failing to do so in 17 editions.

Ahead of their game against Rajasthan Royals, experts like Sunil Gavaskar had predicted that RCB would steamroll the Sanju Samson-led side. However, RCB disappointed not only Sunil Gavaskar but their vast legion of fans as RR won the match by 4 wickets with an over to spare.

RCB made the playoffs after making a remarkable turnaround in the event. After having lost 7 of their 8 matches at the start of the 17th edition of the IPL, the Karnataka-based franchise won six games on the trot, knocking out defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the process.

With momentum on their side, Virat Kohli and his men were expected to put up a huge total on the board at the Narendra Modi Stadium. But their over-dependence on Virat Kohli, who finished the tournament as the leading scorer with 751 runs in 15 contests, came to haunt them against RR. While Virat Kohli did contribute 33 off 24 balls, his inability to bat long in the eliminator meant that RCB failed to reach a competitive total on the score sheet.

Notably, no RCB batter touched the milestone of a half-century in the match, resulting in a below-par total of 172/8 in their allocated 20 overs.

In reply, RR got off to a flier as Yashasvi Jaiswal went ballistic in the powerplay. After Cameron Green dismissed him for 45 off 30 deliveries, the onus to take RR over the finish line was Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer, who scored 36 off 26 and 26 off 14 balls, respectively, to secure a comfortable win for the Jaipur-based franchise.

RCB's defeat ignited an intense debate on social media, with the team captained by South African Faf du Plessis being heavily criticized for their sub-standard performance against RR. Much of the fan anger against RCB was directed at their celebrations in their previous game vs CSK where their players erupted in joy after ending MS Dhoni's team's sojourn in the event.

Former India batter Ambati Rayudu mocked RCB for their “aggressive celebrations” after their victory over CSK earlier in the event, stating that such gestures don't win you trophies.

“If you talk about RCB today, it shows that only passion and aggressive celebrations don't win you trophies. You need to plan. You didn't get the IPL trophy just by reaching the playoffs. You have to play with the same hunger. Don't think you will win the IPL trophy just by beating CSK. You will have to come next year once again,” Ambati Rayudu told Star Sports.

“They need to show more faith in Indians, especially in Indian talent. I don't think in the past 16 years any Indian batter apart from Virat Kohli has scored more than 1000 runs, and Virat is at 8000. That shows that you don't have any confidence in Indian talent,” he elaborated.

Following RCB's elimination from the competition, the legendary Kris Srikkanth gave a piece of brutal advice to the franchise.

He pointed out that RCB went overboard with their celebrations after their victory over CSK helped them to qualify for the playoffs. Instead of displaying their antics, they should have stayed quiet.

“In life when you are doing well keep your mouth shut and keep going, when you make noise out of something you are doing you cannot do that work,” Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.

“They were posting unnecessary videos and showing off too much (after the win against CSK). That's why came and destroyed them, that's why in cricket you need to shut your mouth and play,” he added.

“If you played well, congrats, if you played poorly then take the criticism but you should never open your mouth and show aggression. They are going on congratulating themselves for qualifying for the playoffs and for the great comeback, CSK and MI have done this so many more times. CSK and Mumbai have both come from nowhere and won titles. These guys won six matches and as soon as they qualified they got knocked out,” the former batting stalwart concluded.