Virat Kohli’s tenure as Royal Challengers Bangalore captain came to a close on Monday (October 11) after they were sent packing out of IPL 2021 by Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator. Eoin Morgan’s KKR defeated RCB by four wickets to book their place against Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 on Wednesday (October 13). RCB fans believe that Australian all-rounder Dan Christian was the main ‘villain’ in their franchise’s loss after his below-par show throughout the season.


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The 38-year-old Christian just managed 14 runs in nine games and picked up only four wickets this season. Sunil Narine turned the match in KKR’s favour, smashing three sixes in Christian’s over as the all-rounder ended with figures of 0/29 in 1.4 overs.


As the deplorable comments kept pouring in on Instagram, Christian was forced to intervene. In an Instagram story the Aussie cricketer put out last night, Christian wrote: “Check out the comments section of my partner’s Instagram post. I didn’t have a great game tonight, but that’s sport. However please leave her out of it," while linking the said post.


Check out the abuse copped by Christian and his pregnant partner…





Meanwhile, during his nine-year reign as the RCB skipper Kohli never tasted IPL success, with his side returning empty-handed after every edition, despite having some of the best batters including South African AB de Villiers and top Australian white-ball specialist Glenn Maxwell in the ranks. The bowling department too has the likes of Harshal Patel (Purple Cap leader with 32 wickets from 15 games) and India pacer Mohammed Siraj.



“I think those middle overs where their spinners dominated the game was the difference. They (KKR) kept bowling in tight areas and kept picking wickets. We had a great start and it was about quality bowling and not bad batting,” said Kohli in the post-match press conference.


“They thoroughly deserve to win this one and be in the next round. The fight till the end with the ball has been the hallmark of our team. That one big over (22 runs) in the middle deflated our chances.”


Australian pace bowler Dan Christian gave away 29 runs in the 1.4 overs he bowled, turning the tables on Kohli’s side and giving KKR the impetus to steam ahead. “We fought till the last over and made an amazing game out of it. 15 runs less with the bat and a couple of big overs with the ball cost us. (KKR all-rounder) Sunil Narine has always been a quality bowler and he once again showed it. Shakib (Al Hasan), Varun (Chakravarthy) and him created pressure and didn`t allow our batsmen to get away in the middle,” Kohli said.