In match 70 of the IPL 2023, which took place on May 21 in Bengaluru, Virat Kohli hit his second hundred in a row. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were trying to beat the current champions, the Gujarat Titans (GT), so they could get into the playoffs. Even though Kohli didn’t get out in a match that had to be won, RCB lost by six wickets in the last over thanks to Gujarat opener Shubman Gill’s unbeaten 104.
During GT’s run chase, they were doing well thanks to a great 123-run partnership between Gill and Vijay Shankar (35-ball 53) at the second wicket. In the 16th over, Vijaykumar Vyshak got rid of Shankar, and Kohli took the catch in the deep. Even though Kohli easily caught the ball, he hurt his knee and had to leave the field. He never came back, and his team lost the game they had to win in the last few minutes. So, after his team was kicked out of the IPL 2023, RCB head coach Sanjay Bangar gave a lot of new information about Kohli’s illness.
“Don’t worry about anything serious.”
“Yeah, his knee was bothering him a bit. But I don’t think anything is really wrong. Having scored two hundreds in a row, four days apart. He is someone who wants to make a difference not only when he is at bat but also when he is in the field. He went from place to place a lot. He was on the field for 40 overs a few days ago and for 35 overs today. He did the best he could. Bangar said in the news conference after the game, “It’s going to bother me at some point, but I don’t think it’s anything serious.”
Kohli’s IPL 2023 season ended with 639 runs at an average of 139.82, including two centuries and six fifties. He will be seen next in India’s ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at The Oval, London, early next month. In IPL 2023, RCB came in sixth place with seven wins and the same number of losses.
