Royal Challengers Bengaluru could hardly have asked for a gentler start to the new IPL season. Set 202 by Sunrisers Hyderabad, they were home with 28 balls unused, Virat Kohli unfussed on 69 not out from 38. Five fours, five sixes, no drama.
Key facts first. Devdutt Padikkal’s 61 off 26 launched the reply. His stand of 101 with Kohli meant the asking rate – already high – simply melted away. Rajat Patidar followed with 31 from 12, and that was that. RCB 205 for 2 in 15.2 overs, two points in the bag.
Now, the chat that tends to follow any Kohli innings, even a decisive one: pace of scoring. Ambati Rayudu, watching for television duty, thought the numbers will only climb.
“[Kohli] was still looking a little rusty… throughout the innings,” Rayudu said. “There’s a lot more to come from him, as he gets more tuned in.”
Earlier, on the same show, he had already called it: “there’s a lot more to come from him”.
Former RCB head coach Sanjay Bangar was in no mood to fret about tempo. “If the batsmen around him are doing the job, then he doesn’t really have to put the accelerator on,” he explained. “Because he can raise the bar anytime in terms of strike rate… He can hit those boundaries or sixes at will, when he actually needs to be done.”
For context, strike rate in T20 is simply runs per 100 balls faced – a quick measure of intent. Kohli cruised at 50 from 33, then collected 19 from his final five deliveries, which rather proves Bangar’s point.
When Padikkal fell, the surface looked ripe for spin, yet Patidar came in swinging. His three sixes over midwicket left Kohli free to survey, then finish. Bangar has seen that ending before.
“Once he knows that the game is well within control, he takes great joy in hitting those winning runs,” Bangar said. “Or at least staying there, and watching his team have those winning moments. It has become a habit.”
For RCB the habit they really want is trophies, not pretty starts, but an early hammering of 202 offers a handy template: fast opener, unflustered Kohli, late cameo, shake hands, leave. Whether it stands up when pitches slow and attacks get cannier will decide their year, yet the opening statement feels solid enough.
Kohli heads to the next fixture with 69 unspent runs and, apparently, another gear untouched. As Bangar reminded, he can raise it anytime – so long as someone else lights the first fuse.
