It is tough being Virat Kohli at the moment. The current ‘Orang Cap’ holder in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 campaign, is breaking records with the bat, yet facing criticism as his team, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, isn’t able to register wins. On Saturday, Kohli scored an unbeaten 113, his best in the T20 league, yet he found himself making headlines for the wrong reasons. As fans and pundits question Kohli’s strike-rate and intent behind the 113-run knock, Pakistan cricketer Junaid Khan brutally trolled the India star for scoring the ‘slowest century in the history of IPL’.
Against Rajasthan, Virat smashed 4 sixes and 12 boundaries during his 113-run unbeaten knock off 72 balls. It is his joint-best score in the T20 league, having registered the same score back in 2016 against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings).
But, the knock is also the joint-slowest in the history of IPL, matching Manish Pandey‘s 67-ball ton, scored in 2009.
Slowest hundreds in IPL history:
1. Virat Kohli: 67 balls vs Rajasthan Royals, 2024
2. Manish Pandey: 67 balls vs Deccan Chargers, 2009
3. Sachin Tendulkar: 66 balls vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala, 2011
4. David Warner: 66 balls vs KKR, 2010
5. Jos Buttler – 66 balls vs MI, 2022
6. Kevin Pietersen – 64 balls vs Deccan Chargers, 2012
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Junaid wrote: “Congratulations Virat Kohli on the slowest 100 in the history of IPL”.
Congratulations Virat kholi on the slowest in the history of IPL#RRvRCB #IPL2024
— Junaid khan (@JunaidkhanREAL) April 6, 2024
Kohli, during the mid-innings break, admitted that he found it tough to score on the pitch. Though it looked like a flat surface from the outside, the RCB star said that, in reality, it wasn’t one.
“The wicket looks quite different from the outside. It feels like it’s flat, but the ball is holding up in the pitch, that’s when you realise the pace changes. One of us (Virat or Faf) had to bat till the end. I feel this total is effective on this pitch. I am not coming in with any premeditation. I knew I couldn’t get over aggressive, just that I had to keep the bowlers guessing. It’s just experience and maturity of playing the conditions.
“Even if there’s dew, the surface is rough and dry, won’t be easy for the batters. I couldn’t get under the ball against Ashwin. Couldn’t slog towards mid-wicket, so had to target straight down the ground,” he had said during the mid-innings break.
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