Jaipur: Every time Virat Kohli is on song these days, he rewrites a record or two.
Sunday was no different as King Kohli scored an unbeaten 62 off 45 balls to help Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ease past Rajasthan Royals by 9 wickets in their IPL clash at Jaipur’s Sawai Man Singh Stadium.
In the course of that knock, Kohli became the first Indian to register 100 half-centuries in all T20s. The only other batter to have achieved that feat is Australian opener David Warner, with 108 fifties in the shortest format.
It was extremely hot and humid in Jaipur, and Kohli seemed to feel the heat and looked a bit unwell after completing his half-century.
Known to be supremely fit and considered one of the quickest runners between wickets, Kohli ran a couple in the 15th over and stopped to catch his breath.
Having made his crease at the striker’s end, he asked Rajasthan Royals captain and wicketkeeper Sanju Samson to check his heartbeat.
On the stump mic, Kohli was heard saying,
“Heartbeat check karna,” Kohli was heard saying on the stump microphone.
Samson took off his big gloves and places his hand on Kohli’s chest.
“Theek hai (It’s okay),” he assured Kohli, who resumed batting after taking a few moments’ pause.
Samson later credited Kohli and Phil Salt for giving the visitors a flying start in power play as RCB chased a target of 174.
Kohli and Salt put on 92 runs for the opening wicket. Englishman Salt was adjudged Player of the Match for his blistering 65 off 33 balls.
