WATCH: A special mention for Rahul Dravid from Virat Kohli after winning Player of the Match award
Virat Kohli entertained the Chinnaswamy crowd on Monday with a match-winning knock of 77 against Punjab Kings.
Virat Kohli played a much-awaited match-winning knock on Monday when he smashed a commanding 77 off 49 balls to take RCB to its first win of the season. The knock was well compiled by Kohli on a not-so-easy wicket at Chinnaswamy. Adding to this, there was immense pressure of expectations from the crowd but Kohli handled it all as he often does.
There were some beautiful cover drives as Kohli danced down the wicket consistently to trouble the bowlers' lengths. He tried to make full use of powerplay restrictions. But as the wickets fell from the other end, he took his time and held the innings together. His knock did not allow the game to get out of hand for RCB.
Kohli was dismissed while trying to slice Harshal Patel straight to deep backward point. He struck 11 fours and 2 sixes during his knock. It required some fine finishing touches from Dinesh Karthik and Mahipal Lomror to take RCB across the line.
WATCH: Virat Kohli mentions Rahul Dravid after winning Player of the Match
After the win, Kohli mentioned Rahul Dravid's words of wisdom in his post-match presentation ceremony. He believed that it's about the memories that one talks about and not the stats or achievements.
"People talk a lot about playing the sport. At the end of the day you don't talk about the achievements, stats or numbers but the memories. It's exactly what Rahul Bhai (Rahul Dravid) says to us nowadays in the change room to play your heart out because you're going to miss these times playing with your friends, in the change room, playing in front of the fans," Kohli said.
"The relationship that has happened organically over the years, is something that I can never ever forget. The friendship, love, appreciation, backing has been amazing and is what you'll miss and never forget," the star batter added.
Kohli came back to competitive cricket in the IPL after a gap of two months. He missed India's Test series against England due to personal reasons. With T20 World Cup to start in just around two months, Virat Kohli will be looking to solidify his position in the team.
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