Published 22:44 IST, November 6th 2020
Virat Kohli heavily mocked on Twitter for failing to step up in another knockout game
Bangalore captain Virat Kohli had yet another forgetful outing in a knockout game as he was dismissed for 6 against Hyderabad in Eliminator 1.
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The stage was all set at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi for two exciting line-ups to clash for the crucial Eliminator 1. The contest was deemed even more special for the Bangalore side, as they have made their way into the playoffs after 2016. The in-form Hyderabad were to pose a stiff challenge for the resilient Bangalore side in their attempt of putting an end to their championship drought. Having put in to bat first, it was imperative for the Virat Kohli-led side to get off to a flying start. However, the knockout demons that came back to haunt the prolific batsman yet again.
Dream11 IPL 2020 playoffs: Virat Kohli fails to make an impact in the Hyderabad vs Bangalore clash
The onus was on Virat Kohli to steer his side to an imposing total as surprisingly walked ahead of Aaron Finch to open the batting along with Devdutt Padikkal. He looked very confident as he nonchalantly walked down the wicket and placed the ball in empty spaces against old nemesis Sandeep Sharma, who has got the better of the batsman on 7 different occasions.
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But there was a twise in the tale as it was Jason Holder who gave the Hyderabad side an early breakthrough while handing the Bangalore captain yet another failure in knockout matches. Virat Kohli shuffled a long way across on the second ball of the second over and tried to guide the ball towards the fine leg. Jason Holder's extra bounce did the trick, and the ball brushed Kohli's glove and went straight to keeper Shreevats Goswami, who took a fine catch diving to his left. Netizens were quick to target the batsman after yet another underwhelming outing in a knockout fixture.
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There is something about knockout matches that seem to get the better of Virat Kohli. Known for his consistency with the bat across all formats, the 32-year-old has a woeful record in knockout outings. Having appeared in 15 knockout matches in his international career, the batsman has crossed the 50-run mark only on two occasions and has 346 runs to his name.
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He has featured in three World Cup Semi-finals so far in his career and has failed to reach the double digits in all of them. The ICC Champions Trophy final in 2017 is yet another instance where the occasion got the better of the star batsman, and he was sent packing by Mohammad Amir for 5 runs.
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A look at Virat Kohli Dream11 IPL stats
The Bangalore skipper's batting prowess cannot be discounted as he has proved his mettle time and time again. He is the leading run-scorer in the league's history with 5,878 runs to his name. Suresh Raina, who is next to Kohli in terms of runs scored, trailed by more than 500 runs. The batsman has crossed the coveted three-figure mark five times in the cash-rich league, while he has smashed 39 half-centuries. Kohli has had a decent season this year with 466 runs in 15 games.
Source: Bangalore team Twitter
22:44 IST, November 6th 2020