There are not many occasions when one of SA cricket’s finest exports, Kagiso Rabada, is outsmarted, but that was exactly the case when he took on Virat Kohli in the Indian Premier League in Bengaluru on Monday.
Rabada, the leader of the Proteas bowling attack, at first change was tasked with stopping Royal Challenger Bangalore’s Kohli who had already got stuck into the opening pair of Punjab Kings’ Sam Curran and Arshdeep Singh. RCB had raced to 21/0 after two overs, and Rabada was swiftly brought into the attack.
Though Kohli is revered in almost divine terms in his homeland, Rabada had actually dismissed the batsman three times in 24 balls before this encounter.
On this steamy evening though, Kohli would win the battle as he waltzed down the track to the fiery fast bowler’s first ball and smashed the length delivery over extra cover for four as he continued to bludgeon the opposition attack.
The Post match presentation by the King Kohli. 👑
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 26, 2024
"I know my name is now attached to just promoting the game in different parts of the world when it comes to T20 cricket but still I have got it I guess". 🔥pic.twitter.com/vyUnueZeQn
‘I still got it’
"They know I play the cover drive pretty well," he said. "So they are not going to allow me to hit through the gaps. And with guys like KG [Rabada], and Arshdeep as well - he is also tall, if they are hitting [good] length, you have to create some momentum into the ball. Once you are closer to the ball, you kind of negate the bounce; you meet it earlier.
"You have to come up with a plan here and there, and try to keep improving your game. I know my name is nowadays quite attached to just promoting the game in many parts of the world when it comes to T20 cricket. But still got it, I guess.”
Rabada would go on to dismiss his countryman Faf du Plessis in that first over, but there was no stopping Kohli who went on to score a match-winning 77 from 49 balls. In fact, Rabada returned respectable figures of 2/23 in his four overs, but ultimately it was in a losing cause.