Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) stalwart Virat Kohli added feather another cap in his illustrious career during the IPL 2024 match against Punjab Kings at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday, March 23.
Kohli shattered former Indian and Chennai Super Kings batter Suresh Raina's record for the most number of catches by an Indian field in the history of T20 cricket. Kohli took 173 catches in T20 cricket, bettering Raina's record of 172 catches.
The former RCB captain achieved this milestone when he took a catch of Punjab Kings' opener Jhonny Bairstow off Mohammed Siraj's delivery in the third over of the first innings.
Currently, Virat Kohli has the second-highest number of catches in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL), with 108 matches. Suresh Raina tops the chart with 109 catches in the tournament. Kohli has been one of the fielders for India over the years as he displays his athleticism and exceptional reflexes while taking a catch or saving the runs on the boundary line.
In the opening match against Chennai Super Kings, Virat Kohli achieved a record of being the first Indian batter to complete 12000 runs in the history of T20 cricket. He was just six runs away from accomplishing the milestone and completed it during his moderate innings of 21 off 20 balls.
Additionally, Virat Kohli is the leading run-getter in IPL, amassing 7264 runs, including seven centuries and 50 fifties, at an average of 37.16 in 239 matches.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru opts to bowl first against Punjab Kings
Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and decided to bowl first against Shikhar Dhawan's Punjab Kings. The three-time IPL finalists lost the opening match against Chennai Super Kings by six runs in Chepauk while Punjab Kings kicked off their campaign with a win against Delhi Capitals.
Speaking at the toss presentation, Faf du Plessis said that RCB women's team victory in the WPL 2024 motivated the men's team to end the IPL title drought.
"You can say that RCB hasn't won a trophy, but the ladies (RCBW) broke the sealing and hopefully that motivates us.
"The boys are excited for the season. In any game of cricket you can't lose cluster of wickets, we did manage to recover towards the end but that is something we have to improve on," RCB skipper said.
