Royal Challengers Bengaluru all-rounder Krunal Pandya lauded former skipper and legendary batter Virat Kohli, and labelled him a ‘champion player’. Pandya was speaking in the post-match conference after his team recorded a crucial two-wicket win in a last-ball thriller to knock Mumbai Indians out of the IPL 2026 playoffs race. The star-all rounder put up a match-winning 46-ball 73 to push the side beyond the victory line. However, Virat Kohli once again failed to perform and was forced to walk back off a golden duck.
Pandya was asked about the legendary batter post victory, to which the 35-year-old responded by tagging him as a ‘champion player’. He went on to say that whenever Kohli doesn’t score for two-three games, he gets excited knowing that the 37-year-old would bounce back. Moreover, the Senior Pandya brother also went on to say that there is no tension regarding Kohli, as everyone is sure that he would once again do ‘Virat Kohli’ things.
“Virat Kohli is a champion player. I mean, if he didn’t score in two games then I get very excited knowing that I know that Virat Kohli will now come back. He has a lot of hunger; he is a different beast, right? So, there is no tension regarding him; he is what he is, and everyone knows it.” He added, “I am pretty much sure that from now on, Virat Kohli will do Virat Kohli things.”
Krunal Pandya opens up on his cramps, batting performance against MI
Pandya, who was facing his former team, Mumbai Indians in a do-or-die game for the five-time champions, was seen cramping quite a few times while batting in Raipur. However, he stood firm for the side, and played a crucial knock that ended up making all the difference for the five-time champions. Speaking during the post-match ceremony, he said, “I was cramping a lot. It started from my calf, went to glutes, went to my back, everywhere. I was cramping. I mean, not often I bat that long, right? (smiles) So it was something new for me. But yeah, I'm pretty happy. At the end of the day, what matters is those two points.”
The star all-rounder was sent in to bat at five on Sunday, and though he played an important knock, Pandya couldn’t finish the game for the team. Speaking about the same, he said, “Obviously I love tough situations. As I've always prepared and I always look forward to tough situations whenever things are tough and today's situation was very ideal for me where things were against me and that gets me going. Obviously, I wanted to finish the game at the end of last two overs, but I was not able to do it. Glad that the shot that Bhuvi played was shot of the match in fact.”
Notably, Pandya recorded his first IPL 2026 and overall third fifty of his IPL career on May 10.
