RCB head coach confirms Virat Kohli sustained niggle on his knee during match against GT

Royal Challenger Bangalore (RCB) head coach Sanjay Bangar confirmed that the star batter Virat Kohli suffered a minor injury on his right knee during the IPL 2023 fixture with Gujarat Titans at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. However, Bangar later assured that there is no cause for a big concern as it is not a big injury.

Kohli scored his second consecutive ton of the season as RCB posted a total of 197 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in the last league match of the season. The 34-year-old remained unbeaten on 101 runs off 61 balls with 13 fours and a maximum. This was the seventh hundred of his IPL career, and with this, he became the batter to score the most centuries in the history of the tournament surpassing his former teammate Chris Gayle, who has six centuries to his name.

However, Kohli’s knock went in vain as Shubman Gill also replied with his second hundred of the season as GT chased the winning total in 19.1 overs losing 4 wickets. Gill remained unbeaten on 104 runs off 52 balls with five fours and eight sixes. With this RCB also got knocked out of the tournament and Mumbai Indians were qualified for the playoffs.

“Yeah, he had a bit of a niggle in his knee. But I don’t think there is anything serious. Having scored two back-to-back hundreds within a gap of 4 days. He is somebody who not only wants to contribute with the bat but even when he is fielding. He did a lot of running around. 40 overs a couple of days ago and today, for 35 overs he was on the field. He was giving his best. So it is going to bother at some point but I don’t think it’s anything serious,” Bangar said at the post-match press conference.

‘I don’t know how you want to count this season as’ – Bangar

Bangar also reflected on his team’s performance this year when was asked why RCB hasn’t been able to win the title. He said that they have finished the season with 14 points and missed the playoff spot narrowly. He also said that they have been qualifying to the playoffs for the previous three seasons.

“If you see the last four seasons and, I don’t know how you want to count this season as… We finished at 14 points, at number five [six] in the points table, narrowly missing out on a playoffs spot. Previous three seasons, [we got] consecutive positions in the playoffs,” he said.