The former India batter recounted Kohli's moment of brash anger inside the RCB dressing room during his stint with the franchise.
Mohammed Kaif found unerring similarities between Virat Kohli’s dismissal in the game against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday (April 6) with the one he witnessed of the Indian batting great during his time with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and recalled an interesting tale.
Kaif, who was part of the RCB franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for three seasons from 2011-13, said he could recount the time Kohli threw his bat away in disgust for a near-identical dismissal to the one versus KKR in Bangalore and promised him he will score runs in the very next innings, and did.
Virat Kohli may have grown into a more rounded and calm individual since then, the former India batter said the modern-day legend said he must be fuming over the dismissal against KKR mystery spinner Sunil Narine at 21* off 18 balls, wherein the right-hander missed an off-break and got out bowled.
Kaif reminisced the time when Kohli out really furious at himself for similar dismissal and expressed his dismay and anger by throwing the bat away inside the RCB dressing room and took onus to get things right in the very next innings he batted.
Known for his fielding exploits in India colours, Kaif, the cricketer-turned-commentator, recalled the Virat Kohli tale from his RCB days during the stint on Star Sports in Hindi.
Just after Kohli’s dismissal, which cut short his vigil at the crease, Kaif rewind the clock and took the viewers back to an era where the batter wouldn’t shy away from expressing his anger inside the dressing room.
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“There was this one time when Virat Kohli got out the same way he was dismissed today (vs KKR on Thursday),” Kaif said. “I was sitting right beside him, and I thought he will definitely throw his bat in anger. And yes, when he came, he threw his bat straightaway, removed his pad. I was sitting beside him, and he said, ‘I’m going to score big the next time’.”
“In the next innings, he scored an unbeaten 72. Imagine. He had gone out, and he was upset. But he forgot that before coming to bat in the next match, scored 72. Then, I realised that this player is special,” he added.
Kohli’s wicket only fastened RCB’s downward spiral through the run-chase versus KKR as they succumbed to a whopping 81-run loss after starting IPL 2023 with an encouraging win over Mumbai Indians (MI).
