Former India captain Virat Kohli smashed a masterful century as his Royal Challengers Bangalore thumped Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets in the IPL on Thursday.
Kohli started his innings with two consecutive fours as Bangalore chased the hosts' 186-5, and went on to hit another 10 boundaries and four sixes.
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He brought up his sixth IPL ton -- equal top with Chris Gayle -- and first since 2019 smashing a six over deep midwicket off Bhuvneshwar Kumar after 62 balls.
The player popularly known as "King Kohli", but whose form has varied in recent years, raised his bat and fell to his knees in celebration.
Mohammad Amir who took to Twitter to pay a special tribute to Kohli. He posted a picture of Kohli with caption – “what a inning by one and only the real king @virat.kohli take a bow”.
Babar Azam fans also call the Pakistan captain ‘King’ and they thought that it was an indirect dig from the former pacer to him.
There were heated moments between Amir and Babar during this year’s PSL, and a statement by left-arm pacer regarding Pakistan captain angered his fans.
Amir recently clarified his statement saying that he never called the Pakistan captain an average player or a tailender.
"First, I would like to ask those who have misrepresented this matter. Show me one interview in which I said that Babar is an average player or a tailender. In all my interviews, I have called him the best batsman of Pakistan, which I am saying with my own mouth, and have said in many places, that it is difficult to bowl against him in ODI and Test matches due to his technique. So, would I call him a tailender? First, let me make it clear to these people," he said.
"My point was that whether it's Babar Azam or a number 11 playing, taking wickets is important for me because it benefits the team. For example, if 12 runs are needed in the last 2 overs and 8 wickets are down, then tailenders are the ones playing, right? So they are also equally important to dismiss. That was my point. For me, every wicket is important whether it is Babar's or a tailender," he concluded.