After a long gap of 28 years, India lifted the ICC ODI World Cup on April 02, 2011, 10 years ago. India successfully chased the target of 275 runs against Sri Lanka, with Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni playing a match winning knock. Dhoni scored and went unbeaten on 91 to bring the coveted trophy home.
There is one thing that remains synonymous with that final in 2011 for India fans, and that is Dhoni's iconic match winning six. The six launched of Nuwan Kulasekara has etched itself into Indian folklore.
On the twelfth anniversary of this historic win, Virat Kohli replicated a similar maximum, almost coincidentally, but this time for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.
In their opening match of the IPL 2023, Kohli's team faced off against Mumbai Indians. Although RCB skipper Faf du Plesis, took charge initially and scored an impressive 73 off 43 balls, he was eventually dismissed. Kohli then finished the job, remaining unbeaten on 82 off 49 deliveries.
Throughout the entire run-chase, the Royal Challengers maintained control, but it was Kohli who hit the winning six, which bore a striking resemblance to the six that Dhoni hit off Nuwan Kulasekara's delivery to win the 2011 World Cup final.
Speaking after the match, Kohli said that RCB needs to remain focussed in their pursuit of the title.
"Phenomenal win. Homecoming after so many years. Credit to their batters for getting to that score. Tilak (Varma) batted well. We kept backing ourselves. Faf went first, and I joined later. I am very happy with how things went today," said Kohli after the match.
"Apart from Mumbai winning five times and Chennai four times, we have qualified the most number of times, so we do play consistent cricket. It's just about staying focused, and just trying to be the best-balanced team. We need to play on this momentum. We just need to execute better."
"The new ball was a bit tricky, but we shifted the momentum by taking them down with the new ball. We nullified all their intensity. The wicket was quite a nice one. We hit good areas and kept putting pressure on the bowlers," Kohli added.
