Virat Kohli once again became the centre of attraction with his all-round show during Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) win over Punjab Kings in their IPL match on Thursday in Dharamsala. First, he dazzled with the bat and then produced a moment of brilliance in the field to grab everybody's attention.
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Kohli lived a charmed life with the bat during the initial part of his innings, when he was dropped on 0 and 10 by Punjab Kings. But he made the most of those chances and made the opposition pay a heavy price as the RCB icon when on to score 92 off just 47 balls.
In the field, Kohli produced a 'Superman' effort by effecting a run-out with a direct hit while running in from the boundary to dismiss Punjab's last hope Shashank Singh, who scored a brisk 37 off only 19 balls.
Chasing RCB's gigantic 241 for 7, Punjab were bowled out for 181 and lost by a massive 60 runs.
While the win kept RCB alive in the race to playoffs, Kohli's all-round show became the talk of the town. The Orange Cap holder has now scored 634 runs in 12 innings and has become only the second batter after KL Rahul to score 600-plus runs in a season four times in the IPL.
Reflecting on how Kohli goes about his business to excel in every skill he posseses, his India teammate and fast bowler Mohammed Shami said it doesn't matter to Kohli if he is coming from a long break. He just stays focused all the time and wants to leave an impression with everything he does.
"Woh ek aisa banda hai jo kahin bhi rahe woh apne frame (zone) mei rehta zaroor hai. Woh jab bhi aayega, woh show karega apne aap ko ke haan 'mai kya hu' (he is such a person who stays focused wherever he is. Whenever he returns, he shows who he is)," said Shami on a Cricbuzz show.
Kohli took a long break for the birth of his son and missed the five-Test home series against England before the start of the IPL.
"He keeps his plans very clear, be it fitness, batting. Even if you give him the bowling, he will do the job, even with his cross feet (wrong foot) action," said Shami with a smile.
"If there are such role models for today's generation, imagine how much they will get to learn -- fitness, skill and so on. Every aspect you look at, you find loyalty for everything. That reflects in Virat Kohli."
