In the match, the former RCB captain raced to 42 off just 25 balls, however, took another 10 balls to reach his fifty. Doull, the former New Zealand international took a note and did not shy away pointing it out while commentating on-air.
“Virat Kohli started off like a train. He was hammering shots. But from 42 to 50 he took 10 balls. He’s concerned about his personal milestone. I don’t think there’s room for that in this game anymore. You’ve just got to keep going especially with wickets in hand at that stage. You’ve got to keep going,” Doull said.
The 53-year-old had made a similar statement for Babar Azam – the captain of Peshawar Zalmi – during the Pakistan Super League (2023). Batting against Quetta Gladiators, Babar scored his first 80 runs off 44 balls. He then played 16 deliveries to score the next 20 runs and smash his maiden PSL hundred.
“Rather than putting the team first… the last little while, that’s all that has been happening. Rather than looking for boundaries, still so much firepower to come. Hundreds are brilliant, stats are great, but it has to be team first,” Doull had said during his commentary stint.
Peshawar lost that match to Quetta by eight wickets after a 44-ball hundred from Jason Roy. On Sunday, Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) lost the match by one wicket at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru after a 15-ball fifty from Nicholas Pooran. LSG’s Marcus Stoinis also smashed a fifty off 25 balls.
