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On Wednesday, May 22, Royal Challengers Bengaluru suffered a tough defeat in the IPL 2024 Eliminator against Rajasthan Royals, to bow out of the tournament. In the post-match show with Star Sports, Kevin Pietersen spoke about how Virat Kohli should leave RCB for DC in his quest to win the elusive IPL trophy, citing examples of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, among others.
During his illustrious career in the IPL, Virat Kohli has been loyal to Royal Challengers Bengaluru since making his debut for them in 2008 despite not winning the trophy in the 17 editions of the tournament. The 35-year-old is the highest scorer in the history of the IPL, accumulating over 8,000 runs in his 252 appearances for RCB, which included a whopping eight hundred and 55 half-centuries.
In the immediate aftermath of yet another trophyless IPL season for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Kevin Pietersen had a lot to say about his former teammate on the Star Sports post-match show. He remarked, as per Hindustan Times, "Virat Kohli deserves a trophy. He deserves to play in a team that could help him to get that trophy."
Pietersen also suggested that Kohli should leave Royal Challengers Bengaluru to give himself the best chance of winning the IPL trophy. “I actually think it should be Delhi. Delhi is the place where Virat needs to go. Virat can go away, and stay at home most of the time, I know he has a home in Delhi. He has a young family. He can spend more time there. He is a Delhi boy. Why can't he go back? Delhi are as desperate as Bengaluru,” he added.
The former RCB captain gave examples of football players who left their clubs in quest of bigger glory, wanting Virat Kohli to emulate it. Kevin Pietersen said, “I think it's about time Virat thought long and hard. Beckham left, Ronaldo left, Messi left, Harry Kane just left Spurs and went to Bayern Munich.”
