Follow UsIt was an emotional homecoming for Virat Kohli as the Delhi lad stepped onto the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi for Royal Challengers Bangalore's away fixture against Delhi Capitals on May 6.
The 34-year-old started pursuing the sport in Delhi under his childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma, before graduating to donning the state jersey and the much-awaited national colours.
"It is a special moment as Anushka, and my family are here along with my coach. I was honoured to get a pavilion named after me, and I started my journey here when I started playing for Delhi," he said in the mid-innings break.
"I never imagined all these things would come there, and there's gratitude for all this. I want to put my head down and continue to work hard."
A wholesome meet & greet 🤗@imVkohli catches up with his childhood coach 👌🏻👌🏻#TATAIPL | #DCvRCB | @RCBTweets pic.twitter.com/YHifXeN6PE
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 6, 2023
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Faf du Plessis and Kohli laid a solid foundation for the visiting side with an 82-run stand for the first wicket.
While the skipper and Glenn Maxwell were dismissed off successive deliveries, Kohli continued to hold one end up in Bangalore's bid for a formidable first-innings total.
The right-handed batter scored 55 off 46 deliveries, studded with five boundaries to help the Royal Challengers post 181 for the loss of four wickets in the first innings.
En route to his half-century, he became the first player in the history of the Indian Premier League to break the 7000-run mark in the league.
"7000 runs is just another milestone during the journey of what I'm trying to do for my team. It's a nice number when you try to do something for your team," Kohli said.
He also heaped praises on Mahipal Lomror for his blazing knock of an unbeaten 54 off 29 deliveries that helped Bangalore much-needed impetus in the back end of the innings.
"Lomror was unbelievable and shifted the momentum towards us. My job was to bat deep and get those late runs, but DK and Mahipal did a tremendous job. It gives the senior guys like me and Faf a lot of confidence at this stage of the tournament," he concluded.
Despite the late blitz, Bangalore lost the game by seven wickets as Phil Salt smashed 87 off 45 deliveries to guide Delhi over the line.