A barrage of memes exploded on the microblogging site X after Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made a sensational comeback to qualify for the playoffs of the Indian Premier League (IPL) following their 27-run victory over defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday.

Remarkably, it was RCB's sixth consecutive triumph in the 2024 IPL, which helped them through 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.

Before the match, Virat Kohli was asked to speak on “outside noises” – a term he has often used to describe the buzz around a player from the outside. Outside here refers to social media, opinions of former cricketers, and the press.

“Zaroorat nahi hai (Don't need to react). I know what I can do on ground. I don't need to tell anyone what kind of player I am or what my ability is. I've never asked anyone how to win a match. I've learnt this by figuring it out myself in the middle of the ground by failing from experience. It's not a by-chance thing when you’re repeatedly winning matches for the team. For someone to see and analyse a moment and for another player to experience that moment in the middle are two completely different things. I have never felt that I should go and tell someone not to say certain things about me. I know what I can do out there. Kisise na koi approval ki zaroorat hai, na assurance ki zaroorat hai ki aapne accha khela. (I don't need anyone's approval, or assurance that I played well.) I don’t need these things. I have learnt this from my father very early on. I could have played doe the state very early in my career through other means, but my father said only if you’re capable you will make it. Performance is my only currency,” Virat Kohli said in an interview with JioCinema.

“People used to say the same about Mahi bhai (Mahendra Singh Dhoni). ‘Why is he taking the game to 20th over or 50th over.' But how many matches did he finish for India! He's probably the only person who knows what he's doing! And he's finishing the game from there. For me, that's muscle memory. He knows if he takes the match till the last over, he'll win the game. My mindset was different. I used to think let's finish the game in the 49th over (in ODIs) or 19th over (in T20s). If he was batting with me at the end, then the thinking was different. He will take the game into the last over where the opposition team is shivering in fear,” he added.

Virat Kohli's remarks came in the aftermath of Sunil Gavaskar's recent comments, wherein he expressed that MS Dhoni was the main man behind the Delhi-born cricketer's rise in international cricket.

“When Virat Kohli started his career, it was a stop-start career. The fact that MS Dhoni gave him that little extra momentum is why he is the Kohli we see today,” Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports.