Krunal Pandya backed Virat Kohli after two successive ducks, and the RCB star responded with a stunning century against KKR, proving his teammate’s prediction spot on in Raipur.
After Kohli endured a rare dip with back-to-back ducks, Krunal had backed the RCB star to produce a statement comeback. Against Kolkata Knight Riders in Raipur on Wednesday, that prediction proved spot on as Kohli smashed a commanding century to guide RCB to a six-wicket win and back to the top of the IPL 2026 table.
RCB vs KKR: HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD
Following the victory, Krunal shared a celebratory Instagram post with Kohli, with the pair posing with their hands forming ‘100’. The caption was short and pointed: “I told you so.”
The post was a callback to Krunal’s comments after RCB’s previous win over Mumbai Indians, when Kohli had registered his second successive duck. While questions swirled around the batting icon’s form, Krunal remained unfazed.
“Virat Kohli is a champion player. When he fails for two games, I get more excited because I know he will come back. We are never tense about him. He is a different beast, he has a lot of hunger. From here on, I am sure Virat Kohli will do Virat Kohli things,” Krunal had said.
Kohli responded in the most fitting manner possible.
ANOTHER CHASE BY THE CHASE MASTER
The veteran opener produced a masterclass during RCB’s chase of 193, anchoring the innings while keeping the scoring rate in control. After Jacob Bethell fell early, Kohli stitched together a crucial 92-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal, who contributed a brisk 39.
As the finish line approached, Kohli shifted gears and dismantled the KKR attack, sealing the chase in 19.1 overs.
The innings was significant beyond just the result. Kohli became the fastest player to 14,000 T20 runs, the first Indian to score 10 T20 centuries, and drew level with Jos Buttler for the most IPL hundreds in successful run chases.
The knock also transformed the Orange Cap race, lifting Kohli to third with 484 runs from 12 matches at an average of 53.77 and a strike rate of 165.75.
Earlier, KKR posted 192/4 after unbeaten half-centuries from Angkrish Raghuvanshi and a late flourish from Rinku Singh. But their total proved insufficient against a fired-up RCB side led by a familiar force.
Krunal predicted Kohli would do “Virat Kohli things”. He was right.
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