Even though Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) lost the match against Rajasthan Royals which was also their third consecutive defeat in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season, Virat Kohli’s form was a biggest positive for them. Opening the innings, Kohli batted through the innings to score an unbeaten 113 off 72 balls with 12 fours and four sixes to his name. His knock propelled RCB to 183/3 in their 20 overs on a surface where every other RCB batter struggled.

Opening up on his knock amidst talks around his strike-rate, Kohli cleared his intention to batting at a higher tempo. But at the same time, he doesn’t want to become predictable and gift his wicket to the oppoisition. “Look I’m not coming with any premeditation. So I knew I can’t go over-aggressive. I don’t want to be predictable. I know I can step up at any point because I’m hitting the ball well. But I want to keep the bowler guessing as to what I’m going to do. They probably want me to come hard at them so they can get me out or have an early breakthrough,” he said after the innings ended.

Virat Kohli is confident of taking his team to good totals if he bats beyond the powerplay and he batted accordingly in the match. Moreover, he also added that as a batter, one also has to play according to the conditions and respond. “But I feel like if I’m set and if I bat beyond six overs, then our chance of getting good totals becomes that much better. So I guess it is just experience and maturity over the years and understanding the conditions that you’re playing. I basically play the conditions and I have the game ready to play in two or three different ways,” the former RCB captain added.

Unfortunately though his knock ended up in a losing cause as the Royals cantered to victory chasing the 184-run target comfortably. Jos Buttler smashed a century off 58 balls opening the innings while Sanju Samson also did well scoring a half-century.