On March 29, in their second home match of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). This will be the first time Virat Kohli and KKR's new mentor Gautam Gambhir will come face-to-face during IPL after an altercation between the two in the previous season when the latter was mentoring Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Ahead of the clash, former India pacer Varun Aaron predicted that Kohli would be fired up seeing Gambhir's presence in KKR's dugout.
"I don't want to stir anything but I'm looking forward to the match-up outside the boundary line. Gautam Gambhir is going to be there right beside the Bengaluru dug-out, I don't know what's going to happen there. We know Virat likes to have fire in his belly and if he just looks at the Kolkata dug-out, he's going to get fired up," said Aaron on Star Sports.
What happened last season?
In IPL 2023, Kohli and Gambhir were involved in a verbal spat after the match. LSG mentor Gambhir defended his Afghan recruit Naveen-ul-Haq who was involved in a heated argument as well. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) found both of them guilty of a Level 2 offence and imposed a fine of 100 per cent match fee.
Kohli in Orange Cap race
Meanwhile, Kohli regained his form in RCB's first home clash of the season against Shikhar Dhawan-led Punjab Kings (PBKS). The 35-year-old scored 77 runs in the successful run chase. It was his 100th T20 fifty. After winning the ‘Player of the Match’ award, Kohli also had a message for the selectors ahead of the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies.
“I know my name is now attached to just promoting the game in different parts of the world when it comes to T20 cricket. I've still got it I guess,” he said in the post-match presentation.
Kohli is currently third in the race of Orange Cap. He has 98 runs from two games. If he scores 46 or more runs against KKR, he will reclaim the top spot dethroning Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) Heinrich Klaasen.
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