“His ability to keep going for 20 overs without getting tired is remarkable” - Harshal Patel hails Virat Kohli

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer Harshal Patel praised Virat Kohli over his ability to “keep going” without getting tired both while batting and fielding. Harshal described Kohli's energy and commitment as something remarkable.

Kohli notched up a brilliant hundred in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday, May 18.

RCB were set 187 for victory and got home by eight wickets in 19.2 overs as Kohli (100 off 63) and skipper Faf du Plessis (71 off 47) added 172 runs for the opening wicket.

In a post-match press conference, Harshal opened up on Kohli’s enthusiasm for the game and said:

“His ability to keep going for 20 overs without getting tired, taking so many tools and even in the field he’s always buzzing – he’s going from long-on to long-on in 5 or 6 overs. His energy on the field, his commitment to the game and his skills on top of that, it is just remarkable to watch.”

Sharing his views on the RCB star’s batting performance against SRH, the 32-year-old added that the way Kohli times the ball is incredible. He stated:

“When he gets going it’s sort of hard to bowl to him, that’s a sign of a great player and I don’t need to sit here and say that he’s a great player, everyone knows that. The way, just by playing cricketing shots, not doing anything fancy, the way he takes on the bowlers even on a slow pitch like this...

“The kind of shots he played, the kind of sixes that he hit, he’s obviously not a power hitter, but the timing part of his batting is just so incredible.”

Kohli struck 12 fours and four sixes in his wonderful knock. He brought up his hundred with a six off Bhuvneshwar Kumar before perishing off the next delivery.

---

“The mood was positive even when we lost two games” - Harshal Patel

While RCB have won their last two matches in IPL 2023, there were some concerns over their form before that as they went down to Delhi Capitals (seven wickets) and Mumbai Indians (six wickets).

However, Harshal asserted that the mood in the camp was positive even when they lost the two games. He said:

“The mood was positive even when we lost two games because we knew even at that stage, if we win every single game from that point we could still qualify and still probably be in the top two of the table, if some results go our way.

“As a team we, were only looking at the positives of how we can play our best cricket. How we can bring energy and intent on the field and how we can take the game on at all times and play positive cricket.”

RCB are currently fourth in the IPL 2023 points table, with 14 points from 13 matches and a net run rate of +0.180.