RR vs RCB, IPL 2024 Eliminator: With Huge Records in Sight, Can Talisman Virat Kohli Inspire RCB?

The word ‘comeback’ was redefined in Chennai on May 18, 2024, when 11 men, clad in blue and red outfits, stupefied the yellow army on their turf. That was the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for you. From languishing in the 10th position on the points table for over a month to jumping to the top 4 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 points tally, it is a script never written. They made it to the Playoffs after knocking out the defending champions in their den, calming down a sea of yellow at the M Chinnaswamy stands.

The IPL 2024 Eliminator is coming, and Ahmedabad city is vibing to the tunes of RCB. Even the fans back home in Bengaluru are manifesting Virat Kohli and others with the trophy, accomplishing the mission—Ee Saala Cup Namde.

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The Eliminator is a do-or-die clash. Win, you move two steps closer to the title, and if you lose, pack your bags. The road to the final is still a long way for RCB, and a lot will be riding on Kohli’s shoulders, who has been a class apart this entire season.

Second-best season in IPL history

The batting maverick has set his genre in the league of higher strike rates and power-hitting. With 708 runs in 14 matches, including five fifties and a century, Kohli has ensured the coveted Orange Cap doesn’t leave his head, irrespective of what the people have been commenting about his pace of scoring runs. Notably, this is his second-best season since 2016, when he, as the RCB leader, accumulated 973 runs in 16 matches, a record that remains unbroken.

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The star batter played a massive role in RCB’s meteoric rise towards the business end of the tournament. They won six games on the trot to seal a knockout spot, and Kohli starred in almost every fixture. He amassed 329 runs, scoring more than 40 in five out of 6 matches. He struck three out of his five fifties during this period, with a highest score of 92 against Punjab Kings in Dharamsala.

266 more to breach his 973-run mark

The former RCB captain requires 266 more runs to shatter his record of the most runs scored in an IPL season and set a new high. In 2016, Kohli’s excellence with the bat saw Bengaluru winning five games on the trot before losing the final to Sunrisers Hyderabad. He scored four centuries and seven fifties, setting a record for most fifty-plus scores in a single IPL season – 11.

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Revisiting his feat in 2024 might look like an arduous task, but it’s possible. One of the probable equations to 266 is a couple of hundreds and a fifty, but for that, RCB has to qualify for the finals after conquering the Eliminator in Ahmedabad and then Qualifier 2 in Chennai. And if Kohli succeeds, no force shall stop RCB from lifting the cup and flaunting it with the Women’s team that won the maiden WPL title a few months back.

8000 Runs in IPL

Kohli is just 29 runs away from setting a new benchmark in the IPL. He is currently the leading run-scorer of tournament history, with 7971 runs in 251 matches, 8 tons, and 55 half-centuries. Suppose he scores 29 runs more against the Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday in Ahmedabad. In that case, he will become the first-ever batter to score 8000 runs in the cash-rich tournament, widening the gap between his tally of runs and Shikhar Dhawan’s, the second-highest run-getter in the IPL.

Stay updated with the latest from IPL 2024 , including updated list of Orange Cap In IPL 2024 and Purple Cap. Explore IPL Match Today . Check IPL 2024 Points Table and players with the Most Sixes , Most Fours ,Most Fifties And Most Hundreds In IPL 2024.