GT vs RCB: Virat Kohli brutally attacks his critics with "done it for 15 years" remark before T20 WC squad announcement

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batting superstar Virat Kohli played a stunning innings against Gujarat Titans (GT) in the 45th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024). The match between the Faf du Plessis-led side and Shubman Gill-led side was held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, April 28.

Virat Kohli hogged the headlines for all wrong reasons after RCB's previous match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He scored a half-century in the game against SRH and played a key role in RCB's sensational win. However, he finished his innings with a score of 51 runs off 43 balls. and a strike rate of 118.60. Also, Virat Kohli was facing criticism for batting extremely slow against the spinners in IPL 2024. 

The batting maestro decided to shut down all his critics when he stepped on to bat against GT. He played a remarkable innings and alongside centurion Will Jacks guided RCB to a 9-wicket win. Virat Kohli significantly improved his strike rate in the match and he also attacked spinners at will. He finished his innings with 70 runs off 44 balls, with 6 fours and 3 sixes.

Speaking after the match, Virat Kohli showered rich praise on Will Jacks for his sensational century and said that his role changed after the English batter came and demolished the GT bowlers. Virat Kohli said:

"Phenomenal, I mean when he initially came onto bat (on Jacks), he was a bit annoyed that he wasn't able to strike the ball as cleanly as he wanted to, but the only conversation between us in the middle was to keep backing, keep committing because we know how explosive he can be. My role completely changed as soon as he got that big over off Mohit, for good, I was glad to be watching the game from the other end. I mean, I thought we could win the game in 19 overs, but to finish it in 16 overs was an outstanding effort. I think it was one of the better T20I hundreds one would ever see, I was just happy to watch it closely from the other end."

Virat Kohli also revealed that the surface was good to bat on and it got even better in the second innings of the match. Virat Kohli said:

"The wicket was pretty good, I mean towards the later half of their innings, it started settling down and that was probably the reason why both teams wanted to bowl first., That was evident, the temperature went down, it got cooler and as the wicket settled down, the ball started to come nicely onto the bat. I was just having fun out there, hitting boundaries whenever needed. We never allowed the run-rate to go under 10 rpo at any point of the chase and to do that in the end what Jacks did."

All the people who talk about strike rates and me not playing spin well... - Virat Kohli responds to critics 

Virat Kohli further attacked his critics when he was asked whether he looks at his numbers. Virat Kohli said that he doesn't pay attention to numbers as it is done by the people who judge his strike rate and the game against spin. Virat Kohli reminded his critics that he has been doing it for over 15 years and for him, winning matches for the team is more important than anything else. Virat Kohli said:

"Not really, all the people who talk about strike-rates and me not playing spin well are the ones talking about this stuff. For me, it's about winning the games for the team and there's a reason why you've done it for 15 years, you've done this day in and day out, you've won games for your teams, I'm not quite sure that if you haven't been in that situation yourself, to sit and talk about the game in the box. For me, people can talk about their assumptions day in and day out, but those who have done day in and day out, they know what's happening and it's a kind of muscle memory for me now."

Virat Kohli signed off by stating that they decided to step up their game for self-respect and revealed that the atmosphere of the RCB dressing room is really good. Virat Kohli said:

"We wanted to step up for ourselves, play for our self respect. We can't be playing the way we played in the first half of the tournament, we wanted to see the ball as well, we are attacking way more, the fielders are putting their bodies on the line, that's the way we want to play. We haven't been up to standards so far except the last two games, but we just want to continue the same way, we have a great atmosphere in the dressing room. We want to play for ourselves, have some self respect as to why we're playing at this level and also for the fans who've been supporting us."