Virat Kohli took aim at critics of his status in India’s T20I side in his post-match interview, after he put in a player of the match performance in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s win over Punjab Kings today (March 25).

RCB claimed a thrilling victory in Bengaluru, with Dinesh Karthik hitting 28 off ten balls at the back end of the innings to seal the result in the final over. Kohli scored 77 off 49 balls opening the batting with wickets falling around him.

Faf du Plessis and Cameron Green were both out in the powerplay, with Rajat Patidar and Glenn Maxwell both falling within two balls of each other. That left Kohli to anchor the innings. He was out off the last ball of the 16th over having hit two sixes and 11 fours in his innings, his 51st IPL half-century.

After the match, Kohli dominated the awards and received the orange cap, with 98 runs after two rounds of competition. Speaking to Harsha Bhogle on his performance, Kohli said: “I know my name is quite attached to just promoting the game in many parts of the world when it comes to T20 cricket, but I have still got it I guess.”

Kohli’s comment is in the context of the questions over his place in India’s T20I side. With a T20 World Cup on the horizon, Kohli has only played two T20Is for India since November 2022. He has also reportedly been asked to bat more aggressively in the format to secure his place.

Previously while commentating in IPL 2024, Kevin Pietersen said: “You want someone like Virat Kohli to grow the game in America and globally,” suggesting that Kohli should be picked for the 2024 T20 World Cup, to be played in the USA and the West Indies, for the good of the game regardless of his performances.

In response, Ravi Shastri said: “You have to build the team to win the tournament and trophy, not to grow the game. If you win the trophy,  automatically the game will grow.”

Kohli was extremely candid during the post-match presentation. On getting loud cheers from the home crowd while receiving the orange cap, Kohli asked them to not be over-excited about it: “Don’t get over-excited. It’s only been two games. I know what this means.”

When asked to keep wearing the orange cap, Kohli said that he is not driven by stuff like that any more. “I don’t play for caps and all to be honest,” he said. “It’s, for me, an opportunity to help my team. That’s the only thing that I have given to Indian cricket, to RCB. And that’s the promise I can give here. Not probably the orange cap, but I’ll keep turning up and keep trying my best. That’s it.”

RCB’s next match in the 2024 IPL will be against Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday, March 29.

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