Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) talisman, Virat Kohli, is all set to add a new feather to his cap of records in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as he becomes the only player in the history of the top-flight competition to appear in 200 matches for the same franchise.
The Challengers from Bangalore are up against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) led by Eoin Morgan in their opening encounter for the UAE leg of this year’s IPL season at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
A lot is happening at the moment for the Indian skipper as he announced that he’s stepping down from both, Team India’s T20I as well as RCB’s captaincy at the end of the respective seasons this year.
The RCB captain on Sunday announced he will be quitting the role of the skipper after the completion of IPL 2021 and giving up the T20 captaincy of the Men in Blue after the conclusion of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in November.
While he will be in charge of the two important campaigns for his franchise and country, Kohli has earned himself a special record in the history books of IPL, which is so far exclusive only to the 32-year-old cricketing superstar.
Having made his debut with RCB in the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008, Kohli has played 199 matches and has scored 6076 runs, including 5 hundreds for the franchise.
Ahead of his major career milestone, Virat Kohli’s teammates wished the best for their skipper and threw some light on the influence he has had on RCB over the years.
Starting with fellow RCB legend, here’s what ‘Mr. 360’ aka ‘Superman of T20 cricket’, AB de Villiers had to say to Virat Kohli on his glorious accomplishment in the IPL:
“Hey skip, congratulations for your 200th game for RCB. It’s a wonderful achievement. We are very privileged to go out there with you on your 200th game for the franchise. We are very proud. You are an absolute legend for this team. We don’t always tell you that. Really appreciate everything you do for this team,” said de Villiers.
For the record, Kohli’s landmark 200th game against KKR has made him only the 5th player after MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, and Suresh Raina to play 200 IPL matches.
“You have played with the same zeal and enthusiasm for the franchise that picked you first. May we continue to see you playing for RCB. Hope you play 350 or 400 games for RCB,” said RCB’s batting consultant Sanjay Bangar.
Star leggie Yuzvendra Chahal also wished Kohli and urged him to play 400 matches for RCB.
“Congratulations to Virat bhaiya for playing 200 games for RCB. Hope you play 400 games for RCB. Just take care and enjoy,” Chahal said.
Though the UAE leg of IPL 2021 (14th edition) will mark the end of a glorious chapter for many teams including RCB, with the mega IPL auction taking place next year, it shall still see Kohli continuing to render his services in the capacity of a player.
