‘Ye form bana rahe hamesha’ – Fans react as Virat Kohli breaks Chris Gayle’s record of most centuries in IPL

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) star batter Virat Kohli scored his seventh century in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday night, breaking the long-standing record held by his former teammate Chris Gayle in RCB’s must-win match against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Bengaluru.

Kohli notched a pivotal innings, scoring a critical three figures in just 60 deliveries for his second consecutive century of the season. The 34-year-old batsman also contributed a century against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the team’s last match.

When he was still playing for the Royal Challengers in the 2018 competition, Chris Gayle scored his sixth and last century in the league. A game against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2019 marked Kohli’s last century in the competition prior to this season; earlier this week, when he led a successful run-chase against the Sunrisers, he ended the wait for a three-figure score.

I think I am playing my best T20 cricket again: Virat Kohli

As the rain had hardly stopped when the players took the pitch, Kohli began the innings cautiously. Both Kohli and RCB skipper Faf du Plessis began to let off the accelerator after assessing the situation, with the former facing Yash Dayal in the fourth over of the contest. He hit the Titans bowler three times in a row for fours, and he and his partner finally scored 62 runs during the powerplay.

“We would have taken that with both hands once we were five wickets down through the middle overs with Anuj as the last recognised batsman left. We pretty much pulled things back nicely towards the end. We targeted 190 when we lost five, but getting close to 200 is a very competitive score and a winnable score for me. Teams have not been able to chase here in the recent past. It’s upon the bowlers now to execute the plans and have a crack at them. I felt great. Lot of people think that my T20 cricket is declining, I don’t feel like that at all. I think I am playing my best T20 cricket again. I’m just enjoying myself,” Kohli was quoted as saying in mid-innings interview.

“This is how I play T20 cricket, I look to hit gaps, hit a lot of boundaries and then the big ones towards the end if the situation allows me to. You have to read situations and rise up to the occasion when the situation demands. I feel really good with my game at the moment and how I’m batting. Spin wasn’t easy to get away. There’s enough in this pitch for our bowlers to make a dent through the innings. What matters is to stay in the present in these kind of situations. I wasn’t focusing on the rain, I was just focused on what I need to do for the team. Now we’ve got ourselves in a great position to defend this,” the former India skipper asserted.

Here’s how fans reacted on Virat Kohli’s seventh hundred in the Indian Premier League: