'All Respect To Him...': Albie Morkel Recalls When He Hit Virat Kohli For 28 Runs In An Over

Former Chennai Super Kings allrounder Albie Morkel has spoken about the famous over bowled by Virat Kohli to him in the 2012 IPL when he took the Royal Challengers Bangalore star to the cleaners. Albie Morkel, who slammed 28 runs in that over, said that the knock had a massive impact on his career and the team.

More than eight years after that famous knock, Albie Morkelsaid he wondered why Royal Challengers handed the ball to Kohli at such a crucial juncture of the game. Chennai Super Kings were massive total of 206 after Chris Gayle and Kohli hit fifties for RCB at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

With 43 runs needed off the last 2 overs, the game looked all but over for the Super Kings. However, the equation of the game completely changed after Kohli finished the 19th over. The former South Africa allrounder hit Kohli for 3 sixes and 2 boundaries to put Super Kings in a strong position. In the final over, Vinay Kumar failed to defend 15 runs and Super Kings registered a miraculous win.

Recalling the victory at Chepauk, Albie Morkel said the Super Kings always found ways to win matches from improbable situations, especially against Royal Challengers.

“Look, that’s one of those evenings… once again we were out of the game. RCB had the game in their bag… I had no idea why they bowled Virat. All respect to him, he shouldn’t have bowled that over anyway. We lost a wicket in the last ball of the 18th over,” Abie Morkel told sports presenter Rupha Ramani in a YouTube chat for Chennai Super Kings.

“The 19th and 20 were left. We needed 42 (43) off 2. I walked in at No. 7. You look at the scoreboard and you’re like ‘oh no, 40-odd off 2, that’s impossible’. You walk in and then you see Virat’s bowling then I thought ‘if I can connect a few, maybe we can get close’.

“I think I edged the 1st one for 4 that just missed my stumps. I edge another one just went over the short third man. I started hitting it straight and we eventually got 28 and ended up winning the match with Bravo hitting a couple in the next over.

“We somehow find ways to beat them like that. We will be out of the game completely and come from nowhere to beat them. It’s a very special game to be part of. Once again a small moment in the game that made a massive impact on the team and my career. I think if I look at most of the comments from Chennai fans on social media, they refer back to that moment.

“That moment lasted about 15 minutes in my career. It is magical to look back at. I remember the vibe at the ground,” he added.

Albie Morkel retired from all form of cricket in 2019. He played one Test, 58 ODIs and 50 T20Is for his country, scoring 1412 runs and picking up 77 wickets across formats.

He made a name for himself with his exploits in T20 format where he scored 4,247 runs and picked up 247 wickets. The left-handed batsman played a crucial role for Super Kings in the IPL. He took 85 wickets and scored 974 runs in the league.

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