After losing the opening encounter against Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore knew the fatal consequences of succumbing to another defeat, yet instead of steamrolling through the side, they merely scraped to the victory, thanks to a swift cameo from Dinesh Karthik, whose career has found a new lease after being designated as a finisher. Yet, his mavericks couldn't undershine the genius of Virat Kohli, who set up the chase perfectly with his impeccable innings of 49-ball 77.

There's a lot of clamours about the place of Virat Kohli in the T20 squad for the upcoming World Cup. Kohli served a masterclass in anchoring to remind he still has it in him, his T20 prowess hasn't dwindled as many would like to believe. Among the 13 boundaries that Kohli struck, his lofted drives against Arshdeep Singh and Kagiso Rabada stood out. Kohli has been playing this shot ever since he started playing, yet there was something magical when he unfurled it yesterday, perhaps a statement of intent, the willingness to step out and attack rather than just waiting for the bad balls.

"They know I play the cover drive pretty well," Kohli said. "So they are not going to allow me to hit through the gaps. And with guys like KG [Rabada], and Arshdeep as well - he is also tall, if they are hitting [good] length, you have to create some momentum into the ball. Once you are closer to the ball, you kind of negate the bounce; you meet it earlier.

Kohli's commanding knock against Punjab Kings was the 92nd fifty of his T20 career, and he also became only the third player to score fifty or more 100 times. Only Chris Gayle and David Warner have achieved this feat before. Gayle has amassed 110 fifty-plus scores from 463 T20 matches, including 88 half-centuries and 22 centuries, while Warner, currently playing for Delhi Capitals, has recorded 109 fifty-plus scores.

This, however, was not the only record Kohli scripted. When he grabbed the catch of Punjab Kings' opener Jonny Bairstow, Kohli surpassed Suresh Raina's record for most catches (172) in T20.