For the umpteenth time in his glittering career, Virat Kohli is all set to lead the batting charge of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Often dubbed as the modern-day great, Kohli had stepped down as the leader of the RCB franchise after the 14th season of the world’s richest T20 league. The 34-year-old captained RCB in 140 IPL matches.
Under Kohli’s leadership, Bangalore won 66 matches and suffered defeats in 60 games. Kohli also guided RCB to the final of the IPL in the 2016 season. The batting maestro capped off his best-ever season with RCB in 2016. Recalling Kohli’s exploits in the elite tournament, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra credited the RCB icon for redefining batting in the shortest format.
“If you looked at Virat Kohli the batter before that, you knew he could get you runs but nobody looked at him as a quintessential rockstar T20 batter. He was more of a collector, grafter, maybe he would hit boundaries, but very rarely would you see him take the aerial route and hit five sixes in ten balls. He was not that kind of a player. Virat Kohli redefined the batting in T20 cricket in that particular season. He proved that you can play T20 cricket with proper technique, even with that, not one or two, but he scored four centuries. That season was just phenomenal, he was a man possessed,” Chopra told JioCinema.
Kohli is the all-time leading run-getter in the history of the IPL. Batting maestro Kohli holds the record for scoring the most runs in a single IPL season. The former RCB skipper amassed 973 runs in the 2016 season of the cash-rich league. The Indian run machine also slammed four centuries in the 2016 season – the joint-most by any batter in a single campaign.
Kohli is the only cricketer to have played more than 222 matches for a single IPL franchise. The ex-India captain made his IPL debut against former champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium back in 2008. Kohli has accumulated 6624 runs in 223 matches at the IPL. The ex-RCB captain has slammed five centuries and 44 half-centuries in the celebrated tournament.
