“He has game for all situations…”: Jaffer hails Virat after RCB’s win over RR
Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], April 13 (ANI): Following Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur, former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer hailed star batter Virat Kohli for his ever-evolving shotmaking and how ‘he has game for all situations”.
RCB continued their brilliant run away from home with the fourth successive away win of the season, a nine-wicket win against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Jaipur on Sunday. During run-chase of 174 runs, Virat’s acceleration from 33 in 32 balls to 62* in 45 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes helped RCB chase down the total with 15 balls and nine wickets in hand, giving RCB a massive net-run-rate boost as they sit on third spot with four wins and two losses.
Speaking after the match on ESPNCricinfo’s TimeOut programme, Jaffer said about Virat, who hit his 100th T20 fifty, “He has got a game for all situations. Today we saw him step out and hit sixes. Sometimes, we did not see that before. But now he does that, he uses the slog sweep as well.”
“He is a master. He has got 100-plus fifties in T20s also. Hell of a numbers. I do not think we should be talking about him, he is such a great player,” Jaffer added.
Indian spin veteran Piyush Chawla also said, “That is how he is, isn’t it? And that is why we put him at the top of the list of white-ball cricketers. Just because of this reason. When he goes out there, he makes things look so easy.”
“This was a perfect platform for Virat Kohli. He is getting runs this season. He has started so well. And when you are chasing 173-odd runs and you get that kind of a start with Phil Salt doing what he does best, you know that Virat Kohli will go not out for sure,” he added.
In the ongoing season, Virat is the fifth-highest run-getter with 248 runs in six innings at an average of 62.00 and a strike rate of above 143, with three fifties and best score of 67.
Coming to the match, RCB opted to bowl first after winning the toss. Half-century from Yashasvi Jaiswal (75 in 47 balls, with 10 fours and two sixes) and knocks from Riyan Parag (30 in 22 balls, with three fours and a six) and Dhruv Jurel (35* in 23 balls, with two fours and two sixes) took RR to 173/4 in 20 overs.
During the chase, Phil Salt (65 in 33 balls, with five fours and six sixes) essentially killed the chase in powerplay with a 92-run stand with Virat. Later, Virat and Devdutt Padikkal (40 in 28 balls, with five fours and a six) condemned RR to a nine wicket loss, their fourth in six games.
