On the fifth anniversary of the infamous 49 all-out, Royal Challengers Bangalore were dismantled for just 68 by Sunrisers Hyderabad. The chief architect was Marco Jansen, who produced an incredible new ball spell and bagged three wickets, including that of Virat Kohli, in the second over of the match.
Sunrisers won their seventh toss on the trot and sent Royal Challengers to bat first, with plenty of new ball movement on offer. The South African left-arm pacer Jansen made the most of it, rattling the stumps of RCB skipper Faf du Plessis with beauty on the second ball.
The very next delivery, Kohli tried to push at a full delivery but got an edge to the well-placed second slip. The Former RCB captain looked distraught after his dismissal.
This was Kohli’s second golden duck in a row, having been dismissed off the first ball against Lucknow Super Giants in the previous game. Kohli’s form has been a major worry for two years. He has managed only 119 runs in eight innings at an average of 17 this Premier League season.
The cricket experts and fans went wild on Twitter, expressing their shock, anger and frustration alike.
“This is the worst phase of Kohli’s career,”
user @mr_rahul_06 said while another one highlighted how the Indian batter has two extremes when it comes to on-field performance.
Harsha Bhogle, a renowned host and commentator, who has a way with words, summed it perfectly.
Kohli spent some time with one of the greatest batters and current batting coach of Sunrisers, Brian Lara. Fans hope that this exchange would somehow help Kohli turn things around.
The Royal Challengers will next take on Rajasthan Royals on April 2 evening at MCA Stadium in Pune.
