Kohli content with this year’s RCB squad composition after registering a comfortable win against Punjab Kings.
Kohli content and happy with the way this year’s RCB side has been set up as they registered their 5th win by beating Punjab.
“I thought this award, as much as… I mean, I don’t know why I’ve been given this to be honest.”
Just 36 hours after losing to the same Punjab Kings at home for the third time in a row, Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 73 off 54, his record 67th IPL fifty, helped RCB win five straight away games in New Chandigarh.
After two quiet seasons with the Rajasthan Royals and the Lucknow Super Giants, Kohli stated that he would have handed the title to “Dev”—Devdutt Padikkal—who has found consistency and form at No. 3 since rejoining the RCB.
Kohli and Padikkal led RCB to victory with a 103-run partnership after Phil Salt was dismissed in the opening over of their 158-run chase. The aggressive Padikkal hit his first fifty of the season with a hammering 61 off 35.
“There have been occasions where I felt like I wanted to accelerate more and more,” Kohli said while crediting Padikkal for his aggression. “But I think it was understanding that if Salty doesn’t get off to a start, my role then becomes to let the others around me to play the way they do.
“I utilised my experience, yes, to finish the game, but Dev could play like that around me, maybe Rajat [Patidar] can play like that around me. So I try to stay in there long enough for the others to know that I’m holding one end and if need be, I can accelerate.”