Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s wait for the IPL trophy continued as they were knocked out by Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator match on May 23 of Indian Premier League 2024 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
RCB scored 172 for 8 after being invited to bat first. Francois du Plessis and Virat Kohli, the openers started steady. Du Plessis got out, after scoring only 17 runs. Virat Kohli also went after he scored 33 off 24 balls, managing to become the first-ever batter to reach the milestone of 8000 IPL runs.
The RCB icon finished the season with 741 runs and averaged 61.75. Kohli is the only player to have crossed the 700-run mark this season.
In the chase, Rajasthan Royals started well against the RCB and eventually chased down the target in 19 overs with 4 wickets in hand. Yashasvi Jaiswal top-scored with 45 while Riyan Parag also played a crucial knock of 36.
This defeat meant more heartbreak for Kohli at the Narendra Modi stadium, the scene of India’s ODI World Cup final loss against Australia.
Second Heartbreak for Kohli at Ahmedabad
At Ahmedabad, November 19, 2023, six months ago Virat Kohli had received a bitter loss in the same Narendra Modi Stadium. India came into the World Cup 2023 final with 10 wins on the trot, after a six-wicket defeat to Australia in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
And yet again it was Ahmedabad where Kohli came unstuck despite a sensational turnaround.
RCB were stuck at the bottom of the points table with only 1 win in their first eight matches. However, they made a stunning comeback with a six-match winning run to take themselves to the top four. Despite the loss which ended RCB’s campaign, Kohli was proud of his team’s efforts.
“The way we comeback & we turn things around and we qualified for playoffs, that I will always cherish & remember”, words from Virat. With T20 World Cup around the corner India will hope Kohli carries the same form he exhibited for RCB in IPL this year.
Tabinda Mir is a writer from Kashmir. She is an English Honours graduate and her interests primarily dwell in poetry and sports writing. She likes to cover Cricket as an avid fan. Apart from sports, her other publications include articles, poems and a letter to summer in the book titled, “Under The Summer Skies”.
Also, her leisure time activities include reading novels, poetry, non literary works, philosophies and writing poetry, short stories, articles on diverse themes.
