'Don't mess around with the pop': Ravi Shastri after Virat Kohli returns to form

Former India coach Ravi Shastri feels that Virat Kohli has announced to the world that he is back with the match-winning knock of 73 off 54 balls in a do-or-die match for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2022. Kohli, who was declared the player of the match,  looked like a different player in the match against Gujarat Titans as he constantly cheered himself on during vital knock that helped RCB to stay alive in the playoffs race with the eight-wicket win.

Shastri said that the innings from Kohli was a message to the world not to mess with him. “The pop is in the house and he’s announced it to the world, and he’s there in the playoffs, if they qualify, and if there’s a problem with Delhi Capitals — then wait and watch. It’s an announcement not to the critics, it’s to the world, don’t mess around with the pop. When there’s class, respect class and it will teach all the kids how to play,” Shastri told ESPNCricinfo. Kohli has had a very poor season this time around in IPL 2022. He has only scored 309 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of under 120, besides being dismissed on golden duck thrice this season. Shastri who spent quite a lot of time with Kohli in the national setup was one of the first prominent voices to advice the former India captain about taking a break from the game. Kohli spoke about the advice at the start of the match while speaking to the broadcaster Star Sports. “It’s not a lot of people who mentioned it. There is one person precisely who has mentioned it which is Ravi bhai and that’s because he has seen from close quarters over the last six-seven years the reality of the situation that I have been in. “…so I don’t think there is anything wrong in that. It’s a very healthy thing to think of especially with the amount of cricket that we play nowadays and the amount of cricket that I have played in the last 10-11 years,” he said. Read all the  Latest News **,**  Trending News **,**  Cricket News **,**  IPL Live Score ,  IPL 2022 schedule , IPL 2022 Points table and  Entertainment News . Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.