Krunal Pandya supported Virat Kohli after two consecutive ducks and the RCB star responded with a stunning century against KKR, proving his teammate’s predicted place in Raipur.
After Kohli endured rare slumps with back-to-back ducks, Krunal backed the RCB star to make a 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
After the win, Krunal shared a celebratory Instagram post with Kohli, with the pair posing with their hands forming a ‘100’. The headline was short and to the point: “I told you so.” Virat Kohli and Krunal Pandya celebrate the win over KKR. (Image: Instagram/Krunal Pandya)
The post was a callback to Krunal’s comments after RCB’s previous win over Mumbai Indians, when Kohli registered his second duck in a row. While questions swirled around the form of the batting icon, Krunal remained unfazed.
“Virat Kohli is a master player. When he fails in two matches, I am more excited because I know he will come back. We are never tense about him. He is a different animal, he is very hungry. From now on, I am sure Virat Kohli will do things with Virat Kohli,” Krunal said.
Kohli responded in the most appropriate way possible.
ANOTHER CHASE BY CHASE MASTER
The veteran opener produced a master class during RCB’s chase of 193, anchoring the innings while keeping the scoring rate in check. After Jacob Bethell fell early, Kohli put together a crucial 92-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal, who contributed a brisk 39.
As the goal approached, Kohli shifted gears and dismantled the KKR attacksealing the chase in 19.1 overs.
The change was significant beyond the result itself. Kohli became the fastest player to reach 14,000 T20 runs, the first Indian to reach 10 T20 hundreds and tied with Jos Buttler for the most IPL hundreds in successful chases.
The knock also transformed the Orange Cap race, taking Kohli to third place 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 breakthrough 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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Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
May 14, 2026 11:16 AM IST
