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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) star Virat Kohli has downplayed notions of his declining game in T20 cricket contrary to what people have suggested. The right-handed batter stated that he feels like he is playing his best cricket in the format again.
Kohli became only the third batter to smash consecutive tons in IPL history when he did so against the Gujarat Titans on Sunday, May 21, at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The 34-year-old, who hammered a ton in the previous match against the SunRisers Hyderabad, completed 600 runs in the season.
Speaking to Ravi Shastri after his innings, Kohli said he enjoyed playing the innings against the Titans and underlined that his recipe for success in T20 cricket is to hit the gaps. The former captain also said that he always believes in playing according to the situation. He said:
"Ya, I felt great. A lot of people feel my T20 cricket is declining, but I don't feel like that at all. I feel I am playing my best T20 cricket again. I'm just enjoying myself, this is how I play T20 cricket. I look to hit gaps, hit a lot of boundaries and the big ones in the end if the situation allows me to."
He added:
"Strike rates, all those kind of things like I said in the past as well... You have to read the situation and rise up to the occasion when the situation demands, and that's something I take a lot of pride in doing, and I've been doing it for a while now. I feel really good with my game at the moment and how I'm batting out there in the middle."
The 34-year-old found hit the gaps and ran relentlessly throughout his innings against the Titans. He reached the triple-figure mark in the final over, while Anuj Rawat's 15-ball 23 also helped RCB to 197 in 20 overs.
"Spin wasn't easy to get away" - Virat Kohli
When asked about the target for the Gujarat Titans, Virat Kohli backed his bowlers to dent the opposition with a change of pace but underlined the need to cut down on boundaries. He stated:
"Spin wasn't easy to get away and I think the strength of a lot of our fast bowlers is also taking pace off. There's enough in this pitch for our bowlers to make a dent through the chase and hitting big shots as you saw in the middle overs wasn't as easy when the field spread out. So you have to hit a lot of gaps and run twos. If we can cut down those boundaries and now allow them to run twos from those gaps, then it'll be a very difficult chase."
The score proved nowhere enough as Shubman Gill produced a blazing hundred of his own to drive the defending champions past the target in the final over. The Titans will face the Chennai Super Kings in the first qualifier on Tuesday, May 23.
