RCB coach Andy Flower praised Virat Kohli for staying in game despite a 17-year IPL drought.
Rajasthan Royals were knocked out of the Indian Premier League play-offs by Bengaluru in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, with a distraught Kohli suffering a four-wicket defeat.
The 35-year-old Kohli led the batting in the 20th innings with 741 runs, including centuries of fifties, but failed to inspire his team to a stellar season.
Flowers said he was looking forward to seeing India’s cricket heroes compete in next month’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA.
“It was great working in dressing room with him,” former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower told to reporters.
“As a former batsman, it was an absolute pleasure to watch him compete.”
Kohli hit 33 in a do-or-die clash at the world’s biggest cricket stadium and remained a force on the field as Dhruv Jurel was dismissed from the field.
“The way he thinks about the game and he supports it up with great skill, aggression and hunger. I really hope to see him in the World Cup,” said Rose.
“I think it’s amazing how he developed his game even though he already has a great record.”
He eventually walked off the field with disappointment, but with an orange cap for the highest run-scorer in the top flight.
Kohli was criticized earlier in the season for his strike rate in the tough Twenty20 format by critics like the great Sunil Gavaskar.
Nicknamed “King Kohli” for his prolific run, the batsman finished with a strike rate of 154.69 and hit 38 sixes in 15 matches.
Taking a dig at his critics, former Bengaluru teammate AB de Villiers said that Kohli performs best under pressure.
“Maybe it can be criticized in a different way and it can be criticized in a different way,” de Villiers said.
