It has been 16 seasons now, and one of the most followed franchises in the history of the Indian Premier League has ended yet another season without getting their hands on the trophy. Royal Challengers Bangalore suffered a defeat in their last group match against the defending champion Gujarat Titans on Sunday.
It was a must-win game for them, and a win would have insured a place in the playoffs for Faf du Plessis and his men. GT beat them by six wickets, despite a brilliant century by former RCB skipper Virat Kohli.
When other batters struggled against the GT bowlers, it was Virat who stayed firm at the other end and reached his second successive IPL ton, which helped his team reach a competitive total of 197/5 in the first inning. Virat scored an unbeaten 101 off 61 balls, with 13 fours and one six.
The next best score was from Du Plessis, who scored a 19-ball 28. That shows what a big contribution he made for his team. But RCB couldn’t defend the title, and Shubman Gill smashed an unbeaten 104 off 52 to take GT home.
RCB’s loss helped the Mumbai Indians qualify for the fourth spot in the playoffs. Virat ended the season with 639 runs, including two centuries and six half-centuries. Meanwhile, former English star Kevin Pietersen urged the former RCB captain to take a tough decision and change his franchise and move to Delhi, which is his birth city.
Pietersen tweeted, “Time for VIRAT to make the move to the capital city…! #IPL.”
However, DC is another franchise that has yet to win the IPL championship in 16 seasons, and they were also the first team to be eliminated this season. Meanwhile, Pietersen’s suggestion didn’t end well, and Virat’s fans bashed him.
Notably, Virat has been a key member of the RCB setup since 2008 and is the only player in history to represent one franchise in 16 seasons. He is also the only player to cross the 7000 IPL runs in his career. The former RCB skipper himself has admitted that he only wants to represent RCB until he plays in the IPL.