Virat Kohli was not at all happy after despite scoring a fifty at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. At a venue, which has been his happy hunting ground for most of his career – be it for national team or in the Indian Premier League (IPL) – the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter couldn’t pace his innings like he wanted to.
At a pitch where Phil Salt (78 from 36 balls) and Rajat Patidar (53 from 20 balls) batted with 200-plus strike rates, Kohli managed just 50 runs in 38 balls at a strike rate of 131.58. Certainly, the 37-year-old wasn’t at his best like he started against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the tournament opener.
With Tim David standing on the sidelines all geared up, certainly the pressure was on Kohli. Kohli was dismissed while he took the aerial route against Hardik Pandya with Suryakumar Yadav taking a diving catch at the boundary in the 15th over.
The former RCB skipper was clearly not pleased with how his innings unfolded and threw his helmet and gloves on the ground in disgust while walking back to the dressing room. It must be noted that Kohli didn’t even celebrate his fifty. which came in 37 balls.
Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull contemplated what might have transpired in the middle. The 56-year-old, on air said that the message from the RCB camp was clear with Davis standing on the sidelines. “Tim David is standing there. Wonder if Rajat Patidar has brought in a little message for Virat: Get on with it, or we might have to sub you out,” Doull said on air.
Had Kohli not gotten out, would have RCB taken a decision to retire him out and bring David on? Well, that’s a question for the think-tank to answer.