Surprising as it may be, the final of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) will not feature a single player from India's squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, starting on June 2 in the USA and the West Indies.
Kohli, 35, has led the Twenty20 tournament's batting charts with 741 runs, including a century and five fifties, but failed to inspire his team to the finish in a roller-coaster season.
Bengaluru and Kohli extend their wait for a first IPL title. Rajasthan will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last play-off on Friday to decide Kokata Knight Riders' opponent in the final on May 26.
"As you can see jersey still fits so if they need an extra man, I can be the impact player. It is good to see the fans. RCB forever, I will forever be an RCB fan," Gayle, the RCB Hall of Fame, said in a video posted by RCB on X.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Faf du Plessis showered praise on the team's middle order after they grabbed the final playoff spot in the Indian Premier League (IPL) following a stunning turnaround in the tournament.
Royal Challengers Bangaluru beat Chennai Super Kings by 28 runs on Saturday to qualify for the Indian Premier League 2024 playoffs.
Bengaluru, who moved to fifth, have mounted a late charge to make the play-offs but will need to win their last league match and other results to go in their favour to be in the top four.
Kohli's strike rate and his effectiveness against spin bowling had become a hot topic of debate in recent weeks.
Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has slammed star batter Virat Kohli for his tirade on former cricketers and analysts over their criticism of the star batter’s low strike rate.
Jacks chalked up 10 sixes in his blitz as he put on an unbeaten stand of 166 with Virat Kohli, who hit 70 and remained in awe of his younger partner's hitting at the world's biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.
Du Plessis said getting their second win would give them a boost.
Kohli fell early in Royal Challengers Bengaluru's chase on Sunday after he was caught and bowled by Kolkata Knight Riders pace bowler Harshit Rana and his team went on to lose by one run at Kolkata's Eden Gardens.
In six innings, Karthik has racked up 226 runs at an average of 75.33 and a strike-rate of 205.45.Excelling in a finisher role for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Karthik has pushed his case for a call-up to the T20I squad with just over a month to go for the T20 World Cup.
The big-hitting all-rounder has scored just 32 with the bat in six games and skipped the defeat on Monday in a record run-fest against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell joked that it would be better if India do not pick his Indian Premier League (IPL) teammate Virat Kohli for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in June.
Rajasthan emerged victorious with five balls to spare, prompting further scrutiny of Kohli's approach and effectiveness in T20 cricket.
Speedster Mayank Yadav bowled the quickest ball of the new IPL season at 156.7 km/h (97.4 mph) in a fiery spell to power Lucknow Super Giants to a 28-run win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Tuesday.
“Not only a fairplay award, they should be given an Oscar,” Gavaskar said.
Chennai Super Kings will begin their Indian Premier League (IPL) title defence against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in what could be MS Dhoni's final year in the lucrative Twenty20 competition after he stepped down as captain on Thursday.