Virat Kohli could forget the painful defeat of Behore when he was the captain 9 years ago
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The Indian Premier League (IPL) is entering the playoffs from Thursday. In this process, Virat Kohli may have a strong opportunity to win the title for the first time. He can forget the painful defeat of Behore in the final when he was the captain himself 9 years ago.
In the first qualifier, Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on top-of-the-table Punjab Kings at Mullanpur.
Bengaluru beat Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday to clinch the second spot. In that process, the team also found a target of 228 runs. The winner of this match will go directly to the final on June 3 in Ahmedabad. Even though Bengaluru lost that match, the team will have one more chance to reach the final.
Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians will meet in the eliminator on Friday, based on the third and fourth placed teams on the points table. Its winner will face Qualifier-1 defeated team.
IPL playoff schedule
May 15: Qualifier 1, Mullanpur (Chandigarh)
Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
June 16 : Eliminator, Mullanpur (Chandigarh)
Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians
June 18 : Qualifier 2, Ahmedabad
Qualifier 1 vs losing team Eliminator Winner
May 20: Final, Ahmedabad
Qualifier 1 winner vs Qualifier 2 winner
Kohli, who recently retired from Test cricket, is now 36 years old. After India won the Twenty20 World Cup last year, Kohli retired from that too. Two-time 50-over World Cup winner Kohli's IPL title this time around will be another bright side of his playing career. This will give Kohli a lot of relief.
'In 2016, I had to suffer twice, once when I lost the final of the Twenty20 World Cup. The next time was when they lost in the final of this IPL," Kohli recalled. Known as 'King Kohli' among cricket lovers, this player is the most run-scoring cricketer in IPL history. And the only player to play all 18 editions so far. Not only that, he has been in the same team since the beginning.
He missed the IPL final not just once but three times. That is 2009, 2011 and 2016. This time, his supporters believe that Kohli will win the title, because his jersey number is also 18. This time the 18th edition of the competition is going on. He scored 54 runs against Lucknow. This is his eighth half-century of the season. He wants to maintain this rhythm. He has so far scored 602 runs at an average of 60.20.
Due to the tension between Pakistan and India, this season is ending behind schedule. That means some foreign players will miss out on the playoffs this time. Gujarat's Jas Buttler is also in it. He has left India to play international cricket for England. But Australian fast bowler Jas Hejveld returned to Bengaluru on Sunday. He left India on May 9 when the IPL was suspended.
Hazlewood was in doubt about his return, partly because of his shoulder injury. Similarly, Australia will face South Africa in the final of the World Test Championship at Lord's in London. This test is starting on June 11.
Similarly, Punjab's left-arm fast bowler Marco Jason will not be there. He has returned home to join the South African team that is preparing to play the final of the Test Championship.
Ricky Ponting, the coach of Punjab, says, "All teams do not have one or the other player. There is no shortage of good players in our team, so there are options to replace Marco. Of course, it is a loss for us not to have him. Five-time champions Mumbai Indians are playing under the leadership of Hardik Pandye. Perhaps Mumbai is the unlucky team that has suffered the most from the move to the tournament.
Mumbai have lost England's Will Jack and South African players Rayel Rickelton and Corbin Woche for the eliminator against Gujarat after joining the schedule of international cricket. Gujarat Titans, who debuted in the tournament only in 2022, won the title that season. Even without Buttler, his batting order looks equally strong. Captain Shubman Gill recently took over the Test cricket captaincy from Rohit Sharma.
Sharma got this opportunity after he retired. He and his team's other opener Sai Sudarshan are in rhythm. They are at the top of the list of highest run scorers. Shubman scored 679 runs and Sudarshan scored 649 runs. The first match of the five-Test series against England will be played at Headingley in Leeds on June 20. Gill will probably have an eye on the series as well. Before that he will be keen to achieve domestic success.
