Virat Kohli slammed his fifth half century of IPL 2025 to shoot second in Orange Cap Standing, as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Thursday. It marked Kohli’s third half -century in four matches, and saw him growing to 392 runs after nine matches this season. In the light of his amazing look with the bat, Kohli’s former India team partner Suresh Raina has suggested that he may play till the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Raina said, “Virat Kohli took the initial retirement from T20I. He could easily play by 2026.”
Kohli retired from T20 IS after India’s winning T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, concluding his international career in the shortest format with ‘Player of the Match’ performance in the final against South Africa.
During IPL 2025, Kohli scored 13,000 runs in T20 cricket. Kohli has been a part of an RCB side who is third in the points table, winning six of his first nine matches.
Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) head coach Sanjay Bangar said that the way Virat Kohli inspired him to post a total of 70 knocks of 70, which was Kul-Baarbar and eventually he was sufficient to win 11 runs over Rajasthan Royals.
At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Kohli hit his fifth fifty of the ongoing season, while Devdutt shared a 95 -run stand with Dikkal, who also hit a half -century to set Aadhaar for RCB Posting 205/5. In response, RCB won the first domestic win of IPL 2025, under the leadership of Josh Hazlewood’s 4-33 and Stephews Act by spinners.
“It was a specific Virat Kohli. After a few low score, he returned to his default style-free-free cricket, creating the innings patiently. Once the game was established, he opened with the attack shots.”
On Giostar, Bangar said, “The key was how he first took over 7-8 overs and assured not only his partner, but also the dugout. The way he portrayed the innings.
Bangar, who also worked as India’s batting coach, also pointed to major strategic errors and careless shot selection, due to which RR stuck in the run-chase directly for the third time. “Things seem really bad for Rajasthan at this time, and they only blame for this loss. They failed to seize the major moments while batting and bowling.”
With IANS input
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