“Orange Cap”began trending on X after Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) talisman Virat Kohli finished the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) on a high. The 35-year-old cricketer became the first Indian batter to claim the Orange Cap twice in the elite T20 competition.
For the unversed, an Orange Capis givento a player who is the leading run-scorer in the IPL. During the 17th edition of the tournament, Virat Kohli made 741 runs in 15 matches, thus becoming the only batter to cross the 700-run barrier this year.
With this, Virat Kohli won the Orange Cap for the second time in the history of the IPL, having previously bagged it in 2016. In 2016, Virat Kohli struck a phenomenal 973 runs, which remains a record in the eventto date.
Earlier,Virat Kohli faced online abuse after MSDhoni'sadmirers began trolling him on social media.
MSDhoni'sadmirers tore apart Virat Kohli for his wild celebrations after RCB knocked out CSK from the 2024 IPL.
The development came after RCB lost to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the IPL eliminator.
After theirdefeat“Haarcb”and“Dear RCB”also found a spot on the microblogging site as netizens shared their reactions on another season where Virat Kohli and his men failed to win the coveted title.
RCB'swait for their maiden IPL trophy will now extend to the 18th season after failing to do so in 17 editions.
Ahead of their game against Rajasthan Royals, experts like Sunil Gavaskar had predicted that RCB would steamroll the Sanju Samson-led side.However, RCB disappointednot only Sunil Gavaskar buttheir vast legion of fans as RR won the match by4wickets with an over to spare.
RCB made the playoffs after making a remarkable turnaround in the event. Afterhaving lost7 of their8matches at the start of the 17th edition of the IPL, the Karnataka-based franchise won six games on the trot, knocking out defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the process.
With momentum on their side, Virat Kohli and his men were expected to put up a huge total on the board at the Narendra Modi Stadium. But their over-dependence on Virat Kohli, who finished the tournament as the leading scorer with 741 runs in 15 contests, came to haunt them against RR.
While Virat Kohli did contribute 33 off 24 balls, his inability to bat long in the eliminator meant that RCB failed to reach a competitive total on the score sheet.
Notably, no RCB batter touchedthe milestone of a half-centuryin the match, resulting in a below-par total of 172/8 in their allocated 20 overs.
In reply, RR got off to a flier as Yashasvi Jaiswal went ballistic in the powerplay. After Cameron Green dismissed him for 45 off 30 deliveries, the onus to take RR over the finish line was Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer, who scored 36 off 26 and 26 off 14 balls, respectively, to secure a comfortable win for the Jaipur-based franchise.
RCB'sdefeat ignited an intense debate on social media, with the team captained by South African Faf du Plessisbeing heavily criticizedfor their sub-standard performance against RR.
Muchof thefan anger against RCBwas directedat their celebrations in their previous game vsCSKwhere their players erupted in joy after ending MSDhoni'steam'ssojourn in the event.
FollowingRCB'selimination from the competition, the legendary Kris Srikkanth gave a piece of brutal adviceto the franchise.
He pointed out that RCB went overboard with their celebrations after their victory over CSK helped them to qualify for the playoffs. Instead of displaying their antics, they should have stayed quiet.
“In life when you are doing well keep your mouth shut and keep going, when you make noise out of something you are doing you cannot do that work,” Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
“They were posting unnecessary videos and showing off too much (after the win against CSK). That's why came and destroyed them, that's why in cricket you need to shut your mouth and play,” the retired batting stalwart added.
“If you played well, congrats, if you played poorly then take the criticism but you should never open your mouth and show aggression. They are going on congratulating themselves for qualifying for the playoffs and for the great comeback, CSK and MI have done this so many more times. CSK and Mumbai have both come from nowhere and won titles. These guys won six matches and as soon as they qualified they got knocked out,” the former chairman of the national selection committee concluded.
