Royal Challengers Bengaluru all-rounder Krunal Pandya’s bold prediction landed perfectly, with Virat Kohli producing a vintage century against Kolkata Knight Riders at Raipur on Wednesday. The knock also marked a swift return to form after Kohli had been dismissed for ducks in consecutive matches in the tournament’s earlier round of fixtures.
After the game, Krunal shared a post featuring himself alongside Kohli, with the two players posing to form the number “100” using their hands. In the caption, Pandya pointed back to comments he had made during the post-match media interaction after a win over Mumbai Indians, where he suggested that when Kohli fails in a couple of games, it only heightens his belief that the star will bounce back. Krunal accompanied the post with an “I told you so” message, along with a cold-face and a crown emoji.
Krunal had earlier backed Kohli with confidence following the batter’s second consecutive duck, this time against Mumbai Indians. In that presser, he described Kohli as a champion player and said that the team never gets tense about him, adding that Kohli is driven by hunger and will inevitably deliver “Virat Kohli things” from that point onward.
Kohli’s landmark run and the chase that followed
- Virat Kohli’s century at Raipur helped him become the quickest batter to reach 14,000 runs in T20 cricket.
- He also became the first Indian to record 10 T20 hundreds.
- In addition, Kohli tied Jos Buttler for the most IPL centuries during a successful run chase, with three such scores.
- In the IPL 2026 run charts, Kohli climbed into third place in the Orange Cap race, collecting 484 runs across 12 matches and as many innings, at an average of 53.77 and a strike rate of 165.75.
- That tally includes a century and three half-centuries.
In the match itself, RCB won the toss and chose to bowl first, restricting KKR to 48/2. The innings was then steadied by major contributions: Angkrish Raghuvanshi struck 71 not out off 46 balls, hitting seven fours and three sixes, while Rinku Singh made 49 not out off 32 balls, with three fours and two sixes. Those knocks lifted KKR to 192/4 at the end of the 20 overs.
For Bengaluru, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam Dar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar each claimed a wicket to keep pressure on the Knight Riders.
During the chase, Kohli had to deal with an early setback once again as his opening partner, Jacob Bethell, fell for 15. Still, a 92-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal—who scored 39 off 27 balls with seven fours—helped RCB stay ahead of the required tempo. As the innings progressed, Kohli took control, and RCB completed the chase in 19.1 overs, finishing on the target with six wickets in hand.
The result sent RCB back to the summit of the standings, with eight wins and four defeats for 16 points. KKR, meanwhile, suffered a significant blow to their playoff hopes. The side had been riding a four-match unbeaten run after enduring a difficult stretch of six winless games that included five defeats and one no result, and now their remaining three fixtures take on a must-win character.
