{"id":610840,"date":"2026-04-16T14:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T14:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/610840\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T14:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T14:12:11","slug":"ill-quit-cricket-virat-kohli-forced-to-eat-his-words-after-playing-as-impact-player-for-rcb-against-lsg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/610840\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019ll quit cricket\u2019: Virat Kohli forced to eat his words after playing as Impact Player for RCB against LSG"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virat Kohli<\/a> has long been among the senior players critical of the Board of Control for Cricket in India\u2019s Impact Player rule, introduced in the Indian Premier League<\/a> in 2023. At a time when peers like Rohit Sharma were used as Impact Players, and debates swirled around whether MS Dhoni<\/a> could be deployed similarly, Kohli had made his stance clear last year within the Royal Challengers Bengaluru camp \u2014 he would rather \u201cquit cricket\u201d than play as one.<\/p>\n

\"RoyalRoyal Challengers Bengaluru’s Virat Kohli plays a shot during the Indian Premier League 2026 match against Lucknow Super Giants (ANI Pic Service)<\/p>\n

On Wednesday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, that stance came full circle. A half-fit Kohli was named as an Impact Player for RCB<\/a>\u2019s clash against Lucknow Super Giants, and went on to script a match-defining 49 that powered his side to a five-wicket win and the top of the table.<\/p>\n

\u2018I will quit cricket\u2019<\/p>\n

Those words were not said in a public interview, but were revealed by former RCB teammate Swastik Chikara, who spoke about Kohli\u2019s firm stance on the rule.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: CSK dealt crushing injury setback as Khaleel Ahmed ruled out of IPL 2026 in huge blow<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking to RevSportz last year, Chikara recalled Kohli\u2019s clarity on the matter, that he would only play if fully fit and would not embrace the Impact Player role.<\/p>\n

\u201cVirat bhaiya said, \u2018Jab tak cricket khelunga, jab tak main poora fit hoon. Ye Impact Player ki tarah nahi khelunga. Main sher ki tarah khelunga. I will field for the full 20 overs and then bat. The day I have to play as an Impact Player, I will quit cricket\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

What led to the switch?<\/p>\n

Kohli had picked up an ankle injury during the match against Mumbai Indians last week at the Wankhede Stadium, five deliveries into the 10th over of RCB\u2019s innings. He received treatment on the field before walking off and did not take part in the second innings.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the LSG clash, Kohli was seen training with a heavily strapped left leg, sparking doubts over his availability. He went through light running drills but did not appear to be moving freely.<\/p>\n

While captain Rajat Patidar made no mention of Kohli at the toss, the veteran was left out of the starting XI. However, he came in as an Impact Player in the second innings and opened alongside Phil Salt.<\/p>\n

Despite the fitness concerns, Kohli looked in sublime touch, taking on Mohammed Shami and Prince Yadav with a flurry of boundaries. He raced to 40 off his first 20 balls, setting the tone in the powerplay, before falling just short of a half-century, dismissed by Avesh Khan.<\/p>\n

His brisk knock ensured RCB chased down 147 in just 15.1 overs.<\/p>\n

\u2018Still not 100%\u2019<\/p>\n

Kohli later admitted he was far from fully fit but was pleased with his approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still not 100%. My knee was a bit sore last game. Even health-wise, I\u2019ve been under the weather for four or five days,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started off well, so I was happy with my intensity. Would have liked to finish the game, but sometimes you have to take conditions into account.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Virat Kohli has long been among the senior players critical of the Board of Control for Cricket in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,296858,159411,296859,72835,85,2131],"class_list":{"0":"post-610840","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cricket","11":"tag-kohli-impact-player","12":"tag-rcb","13":"tag-rcb-vs-lsg","14":"tag-royal-challengers-bengaluru","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-virat-kohli"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}