"For India's Sake...": Anil Kumble's Humble Virat Kohli Plea Over T20 World Cup 2024

Former India cricketer Anil Kumble heaped praise on Virat Kohli and expects the star Indian batter to continue his prime IPL form in the T20 World Cup as well. Kohli's scintillating 92 off 47 balls followed by a collective bowling effort helped RCB recorded a 60-run win over PBKS, their fifth win of the IPL 2024 after losing six games in a row. Batting first, Bengaluru posted 241/7 before bowling Punjab out for 181 runs, earning their fourth win in a row. Kohli slammed seven fours and six sixes at a strike-rate of 195.74 in his vintage knock, which also took him past the 600-run mark in IPL 2024.

"He's been in outstanding form. He had a break coming into this IPL and since then, he's been relentless in his pursuit of excellence. You could see that. He's at the top of the scoring table with 634 runs, and I'm sure for RCB, you would want him to win the next two games and hopefully qualify. But for India's sake, you'd want his form to continue in the World Cup as well,” Kumble said to JioCinema.

Kumble also praised Rajat Patidar, who struck 55, his fourth fifty of the season, and ably supported Kohli after an early tumble adding 76 runs in 32 deliveries for the third wicket partnership.

Patidar stepped up the attack against spinners by smacking Rahul Chahar for three sixes in his first over and was given another life when Jonny Bairstow was late to react to a catch behind. He got his fifty in 21 balls when he pulled Sam Curran over a short fine leg for six, before nicking behind to keeper off the left-arm pacer.

"He's an international player now. It was important for RCB that the middle order clicked because it was Virat Kohli alone and then, Faf du Plessis came into the scene and scored some runs at the top of the innings