Virat Kohli asks Sanju Samson to check his 'heartbeat' mid-match, leaves fans concerned as Jaipur heat drains RCB star
IPL 2025, RR vs RCB: Virat Kohli asked Sanju Samson to check his heartbeat during the high-octane clash at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Virat Kohli played an unbeaten 62-run knock off 45 balls to help Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) chase down 174 with nine wickets in hand and 15 balls to spare against Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 fixture at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. However, the heat in Jaipur even made Kohli struggle, as he took a few minutes to catch his breath in the middle.
The incident happened in the 15th over when Kohli ran back for a couple of runs on the fourth delivery bowled by Wanindu Hasaranga. As soon as Kohli made the striker's end, the right-hander was seen struggling and it was then that he asked Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson to check his heartbeat.
On the stump mic, Kohli was heard saying, "Heartbeat check karna. (Check my heartbeat)." To this, the Rajasthan Royals wicketkeeper replied, "Theek hai. (It's okay)."
As soon as the 15th over was completed, Virat Kohli and RCB decided to take a strategic time out to help the batters recover and catch their breath.
After the loss against RCB, Rajasthan Royals captain Samson credited Virat Kohli and Phil Salt for giving the visitors a flying start in the powerplay. For the uninitiated, Kohli and Salt put on 92 runs for the opening wicket.
“We knew they would come hard at us and I think they won the game in the powerplay. Credit to RCB. The ball did come on better in the second innings. They were really good,” Samson said at the post-match presentation.
Kohli creates records
During the course of his unbeaten 62-run knock, Virat Kohli became just the second batter after David Warner to register 100 half-centuries in all T20s. Warner leads the charts with 108 fifties to his name in the shortest format.
Phil Salt was the standout performer for RCB in the chase as the right-hander played a knock of 65 runs off 33 balls.
RCB captain Rajat Patidar earlier won the toss and opted to bowl first. Rajasthan posted 173/4 in the allotted 20 overs, owing to a 75-run knock by Yashasvi Jaiswal.
At the post-match presentation, Patidar said, “It was really amazing. The way the bowlers executed their plans, it's nice to see. The way we bowled in the powerplay was really special. The wicket wasn't easy to bat. We were targeting 150-170. I get my confidence from my bowlers.”
“They are ready to bowl at any surface and at any stage, that's amazing and gives a lot of confidence for me. I really enjoyed Salt's batting from the dugout. The way he was striking and, at the same time, Virat Kohli rotating the strike was really special. We always look to play positive and good cricket,” he added.
