Yesterday was pure lit. After facing back to back losses in the IPL, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) finally managed to clinch the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). A loss for Virat Kohli’s men against the table-toppers would mean they become the second team, after Delhi Daredevils, to be ruled out of contention for the Play-Offs.

However, something interesting has happened before the match has started. Before it, all started at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Commentator Danny Morrison, known for his exuberant and theatrical personality, put Kohli in a rather uncomfortable spot. In an attempt to reiterate the importance of the game for RCB, Danny put his hand on Kohli’s neck and said: “Checking, just checking. Are you nervous? Got to win here tonight. It’s a big game. You’ve got to win!”

Now, by the end of his remarks, the discomfort in Danny’s voice was clearly visible as Kohli was clearly taken aback and had a bit of a frown on his face. Not too impressed with Danny’s decision to place his hand on him out of nowhere. With a fake laugh, he said, “Yea, it’s my 163rd IPL game. So, it’s not one of the first few, you know.”

On the other hand, SRH captain Kane Williamson won the Toss and elected to field. “We are gonna bowl. Hard to know how the surface will play, so we’ll try and make use of it first with the ball in hand. Hopefully, we can restrict them. We have one change: Basil Thampi comes in for Bhuvneshwar. Great opportunity for Basil tonight. Hopefully, we can adapt to conditions,” said Williamson.

Kohli, on the other hand, said he wasn’t too unhappy batting first. “We wanted to bowl but SRH are not a bad side to bat first against, who bank on their bowling. Would be nice to test their batting with a score on board. We can play with freedom. We will try to do well in whatever we are doing first,” said the talismanic batsman.

“We have been through these times before, so the key is to enjoy. There’s no reason to think too much now because we have two (consecutive) wins. Another day in life, so just enjoy. We have won two games, so we are playing with the same side. We’ll try and replicate the same tonight,” he added.