Virat Kohli, the superstar of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, had an honest admission after his team reached the playoffs after an emphatic win over Chennai Super Kings on Saturday. Kohli played a massive role in RCB’s turnaround in the second half of the IPL 2024 as they won six consecutive matches to get into the playoffs. The star batter has been scoring consistently well this season and leading the Orange Cap race with 708 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 155.60 – which has been the standout for him this season.
After criticism in the first few matches regarding his strike rate, Kohli bounced back and up the ante as he started attacking the spinners in the middle overs. The batting maestro was delighted after his team qualified for the playoffs. He said God had a plan for them, and they made a sensational turnaround after losing seven matches out of the first eight in their campaign.
However, Kohli stated they are now focused on the next round, where they will face the third-placed side from the league stage. “I don’t want to say anything more than this. Got to focus on the next one,” he added, showcasing his forward-thinking mentality.
On Saturday, the hosts needed to win by at least 18 runs to book the final play-off berth, and they did that in style with yet another impressive show at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Sent into bat, RCB posted a challenging 218 for five against CSK in their must-win. In reply, Chennai (191/7) kept losing wickets at regular intervals, but Jadeja (42*) and MS Dhoni (25) gave them hope at the last, but Dayal dented it and took RCB to the last four.
In the run-chase of 219 runs and an additional responsibility to score at least 201 runs to achieve playoff qualification, but they failed to find the momentum as RCB attacked in a pack to outclass them. The two teams finished at 14 points, but RCB sneaked into the final four on the basis of a better net run-rate.
