'Absolutely disgusting': Glenn Maxwell slams online trolls after RCB bow out of IPL 2021

IPL 2021 | Eliminator: Hits & Flops as Narine sails Knight Riders’ fairy tale comeback across another hurdle

“It was Sunil Narine’s world today and all of us were living in it,” might only be the apt description of the feat achieved by the magician with the ball. He also turned out to be the crusader with the bat today for the Kolkata Knight Riders as they defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets to book their birth in the second Qualifier. With this victory, in which they chased down 138, the Knight Riders have also come one place closer to what could be termed as a fairytale comeback, from the first leg of the Indian Premier League. At the end of the first leg, the team from Kolkata was sitting at the seventh position in the table with just two wins out of seven games. While Narine was definitely the man of the hour with his amazing all-around performance, there were others too who managed to make themselves on a day truly dominated by the Trinidadian. Some did with impressive performances while others with below par. All of them however will be discussed in the section called Hits and Flops. Hits Sunil Narine The wily old fox was just phenomenal today. When Narine got the ball in hand in the 10th over i.e. after the mayhem of the Powerplay in which RCB were really good and also just after when Virat Kohli and Srikar Bharat, the two Bangalore batters had started to struggle in finding gaps. In his very first over, the mystery spinner removed Bharat who looked in all sorts of problems anyways. Skipper Morgan then decided to change the ends of Narine and when he came back in his second spell, Kohli’s stumps were castled by an off-spinner that barged through his defences. In his third over he broke through the defences of yet another great, this time it was AB de Villiers. The fact that other bowlers were bowling equally well made Narine concentrate more on wicket-taking than run-saving plans and as a result, in his last over, he got rid of Glenn Maxwell and thus finally the dreams of RCB reaching at least 150 had to be put back. When Narine came out to bat, the situation was equally tensed with the top three of the KKR batting lineup returned back to the pavilion, the ball doing all sorts of things off the wicket and the remaining batters not in great form, while his team needed to get the 60 runs anyhow. Virat helped solve the problem for KKR and Narine as he introduced a cutter bowler Dan Christain into the attack. The 33-year-old took the opportunity in a flash and hit the Aussie bowler for three sixes in an over to get the match out of the reach of the Bangalore side, before eventually getting out on 26 from 15 balls. Lockie Ferguson If Narine was the fire that KKR had today, Lockie Ferguson was the one who started it. With the wicket of Devdutt Padikkal, the Kiwi paid up for the expensive over before that. After breaking the partnership, Ferguson then came back in the 19th over and removed Shahbaz Ahmed to stop the flow of runs. Shahbaz would have been out in the Sunil Narine over itself if Shubaman Gill wouldn’t have dropped a sitter near the boundary line at mid-wicket. That catch would have helped the Caribbean man get his second five-wicket haul in IPL history. Anyways, Ferguson finished his spell with figures of 2/30 in four overs and was the only one apart from Narine to get among wickets for KKR. Yuzvendra Chahal It sure was a wicket that helped spinners. And thus it was a mystery as to why Shahbaz Ahmed was never introduced to the attack by skipper Kohli. However, the one spinner that was introduced, turned out to be simply brilliant, bowling with an economy of just four throughout his four-over spell. Chahal created pressure and with the help of his googly, was able to dismiss Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana, the two players who have been in good touch in this tournament. But in the end, it wasn’t good enough to win the game. Flops Dan Christian Playing Christian in the playing XI was in itself controversial given the fact that he hasn’t been good in any of the games that he has played. With the likes of Kyle Jamieson present in the squad, it really blew everyone’s mind as to why has a 38-year-old still been playing in the XI. Christian was bad today as well as he not only gave away 29 runs in just 10 balls that he bowled but also got run out in the 20th over while batting, making only nine runs off 8 balls. Thus a poor selection by the RCB management eventually resulted in losing their most important game of this season. Virat Kohli More than for being unable to get his strike rate up or even equal to powerplay period, post it, what lacked today in the RCB skipper was his game reading skills. Not bowling your spinner when the bowling is doing all sorts of deeds on the wicket and when two of your own spinners are showing it, was the most basic error Kohli made. Shahbaz Ahmed would have been the go-to man instead of Dan Christian in all probability. As far as his weakness to off-spin was concerned, it was once again exposed by Sunil Narine as he got the Indian skipper bowled, breaching his defences. Thus, apart from a decent start, Kohli, who has now captained his last game in the IPL, as he himself said that he would stay with RCB but won’t captain it, was off-colour totally. KKR would now welcome Delhi Capitals in Sharjah and have more than decent enough chance to reach the final in Dubai, especially with the way they have been bowling.

Twitter says '#ThankYou' to '#Skipper' Virat Kohli after RCB knocked out of IPL 2021

Virat Kohli had to see his beloved Royal Challengers Bangalore getting knocked out of another season of the Indian Premier League, and although he has had a fair share of experience of dealing with such failure as a captain, the latest one in this edition was more meaningful and disappointing. After the defeat against the Kolkata Knight Riders, that draw curtains on his side in IPL 2021 and his era of leadership at the RCB franchise, Kohli said that he envisioned creating an open culture that could allow young players to play freely and express their style of game. Kohli took over the captaincy of the RCB way back in the 2013 edition and could not manage to lift the trophy even once, but he said that there was no lack of effort and commitments from his side, and rather he has tried more than 100 per cent to make the RCB champions. “I’ve tried my best to create a culture where youngsters could come and play expressive cricket. Its something I've tried to do at the India level as well. All I can say is that I have given my best. I have given my 120% to this franchise and will continue giving it as a player on the field,” Kohli said in the post-match interview with the host broadcaster Star Sports. In the video where he announced his decision to quit captaincy, he had also said that his association with the RCB will last till he plays in the tournament and he reiterated the point once again. He said that for him loyalty matters the most and that his commitment to the franchise will not subside till the last ball of his career. “It’s a great time to regroup and restructure the franchise for the next three years. I will definitely (play for RCB). For me loyalty matters and my commitment is with this franchise till the last day I play IPL,” he concluded. RCB’s departure from the tournament ignited strong opinions from both his fans and critics. While his fans were recognising his long service and commitment to the side, his critics reminded Twitter about his failure as captain. His fans ran a campaign on the line of #ThankYou and #skipper after the game against the KKR.

Eliminator: Twitter rips into Virat Kohli's failure to win IPL trophy

The Royal Challengers Bangalore’s journey in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League came to an end in the eliminator against the Kolkata Knight Riders and with that Virat Kohli had to end his IPL captaincy career without winning the title. Batting first, they were neither aggressive nor versatile enough against the KKR bowling lineup, and in the end, could manage only 139 runs in 20 overs. The RCB bowlers were not too off the mark except for Daniel Christian, who handed the KKR a big advantage with a 20-run over in the middle phase of the game. Twitter was aware of the RCB’s disappointing past and a lot of their fans and experts of the game were not lacking in strong opinions while analysing their journey in this edition.

IPL 2021 | Harshal Patel equals Dwayne Bravo's record of most wickets in one IPL season

Harshal Patel continued his purple patch with the ball and picked three wickets in the eliminator against the Kolkata Knight Riders to equal Dwayne Bravo’s record of highest wicket-taker in an IPL season. He went on to 32 wickets in the ongoing edition of the IPL and touched Bravo’s feat of 32 wickets in the 2014 edition of the tournament. Harshal has been the go-to man for the Royal Challengers Bangalore this season and has taken wickets at a staggering average of 14.34 and an economy rate of 8.14 runs per over. His strike rate of 10.56 has been phenomenal as well and it shows up in the number of wickets he has taken in the season. He has taken a five-wicket haul and hat-trick in the season both against the Mumbai Indians. His excellent performance with the bat which is all likely to earn him a purple cap of this season could not carry the Royal Challengers Bangalore beyond the point of the second qualifier and they got knocked out of the tournament after the defeat against the KKR.