'What on earth': Fans turn on Virat Kohli over 'embarrassing' act

KL Rahul has broken the records for highest score by a captain and Indian batsman in the IPL, but he couldn’t have done it without a little help from counterpart Virat Kohli.

Rahul made IPL history on Thursday as he took Kings XI Punjab to a comfortable victory over the Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore.

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Rahul, in his second outing as skipper, smashed an unbeaten 132 off just 69 deliveries - the first century of the 2020 season - to help Punjab post a massive total of 3-206 and a 97-run win.

However he was gifted two lifelines by Kohli, who dropped simple chances to dismiss his counterpart on 83 and 89.

Rahul recorded the highest-ever score by a captain in the IPL, and broke Sachin Tendulkar's record to become the fastest Indian to 2000 IPL runs - achieving the feat in 60 innings compared to the legendary player’s 63 innings.

“It was good to be in the middle and see the team through whatever we'd planned before the game,” Rahul said.

“I think it's as complete a team performance as it can get, really happy.”

Kohli took full responsibility after the match, acknowledging that he didn’t have the “best day at the office”.

“Maybe if we restricted them to under 180, we wouldn’t have been under pressure... from ball one to chase close to 210,” he said.

“So we know exactly where we went wrong and it's time to put my hand up and say a couple of important chances went down.”

Fans flocked to social media in disbelief over Kohli’s ‘embarrassing’ display.

Sombre scenes after death of Dean Jones

The game took on a sombre note after the sudden death of Australian batsman and cricket commentator Dean Jones, who had been covering the IPL from Mumbai.

The 59-year-old suffered a heart attack and collapsed in the lobby of his hotel in Mumbai.

Players from both teams wore black armbands to honour Jones and in a pre-match show, fellow commentator and Australian Brett Lee praised the 59-year-old as an “absolute legend”.

Lee reportedly performed CPR on Jones but couldn’t revive him.

“I think the thing we want to say about Deano is he would have wanted us to be here tonight,” Lee said.

“He is an absolute legend. Firstly to his family and friends we send our condolences. It’s a real tough day for everyone, not only for his close mates … and the whole cricketing world in general.

“What Deano would’ve wanted is for us to come out here in the dugout, get it done, have some fun for the game we all love.”

The much-delayed IPL, which was originally scheduled to start in March, moved out of India due to the coronavirus pandemic and is being played behind closed doors.

with AFP

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