Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opener Virat Kohli rescued his team from an early collapse in powerplay overs and stabilised the run chase with the help of Krunal Pandya. On a tricky pitch at Arun Jaitley Stadium, where a batter couldn't just hit through the line and get boundaries, Kohli and Pandya took their time. After the six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals (DC), Kohli talked about the need to plan a run chase instead of going all guns blazing. He explained his approach in the run chase similar to the one in Delhi.
"I look at the total on the board, the conditions, the bowlers who are due to bowl, who are the bowlers who are going to be hard to get away. I try and make sure my singles and doubles don't stop and then you keep getting the odd boundary in between, so the game doesn't get stagnant. That's always been my focus, keep working on rotating the strike. People are forgetting the importance of partnerships or going deep into the innings in T20s and this year your'e seeing that you can't just come out and tee off from ball one," Kohli told the broadcasters after he got the orange cap.
"You need to have professionalism to read the situation and try and get into a position where you can start dominating the bowlers. It won't come easy on a slow pitch if you don't know how to rotate the strike. So that's pretty much my method."
Kohli praised Krunal Pandya who asked him to stay in the middle. They shared a 119-run partnership for the fourth wicket to take the game away from DC. Then, Tim David walked in and finished the run chase by taking on Mukesh Kumar in the penultimate over.
"We've communicated beautifully, Krunal kept telling me to stay while he took his chances. We have the extra power in Tim David, there's Jitesh as well. That firepower at the back end of the innings definitely helps you. And now Romario as well," said the 36-year-old.
Kohli's numbers in IPL 2025
Kohli scored 51 runs from 47 balls, including four fours. His strike rate was 108.51. He surpassed Mumbai Indians' (MI) Suryakumar Yadav to get hold of the orange cap. So far, he has scored 443 runs from 10 innings at an average of 63.29, including six half-centuries. His strike rate in the season is 138.87.