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Virat Kohli gifted a signed jersey to Noor Ahmad after the Afghanistan spinner dismissed the Indian legend during the IPL 2024 game between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Gujarat Titans (GT) on Saturday (May 4).
In the second half of the game, Kohli was well on course to seal the target of 148 set by the Titans and carry his bat. However, the 11th over saw Ahmad inducing a faint edge of Kohli's bat, which was caught by Wriddhiman Saha behind the stumps. The former RCB skipper tried to play the ball towards the covers, but it spun away and the edge could only find the hands of the keeper.
Nevertheless, RCB chased down the score in the 14th over, with sensible knocks from Dinesh Karthik (21*) and Swapnil Singh (15*).
After the game, Noor Ahmad took to Instagram stories and shared a snap of Kohli's gifted jersey. He captioned the post:
"Always one of my fav. Thanks @virat.kohli."
The message on the jersey by Kohli to Ahmad was:
"Dear Noor, Well bowled. Wish you the best."
Apart from Kohli, Ahmad also dismissed Will Jacks (1), who scored a century against the Titans in the last game. He finished with figures of 2/23 off four overs.
With this victory, RCB climbed to the seventh position with four wins in 11 league games. They have to win the remaining three games to have an outside chance to qualify for the playoffs.
Noor Ahmad to represent Afghanistan in T20 World Cup 2024
The skillful spinner, Noor Ahmad, has been named in the 15-member Afghanistan squad for the T20 World Cup 2024. The big ticket ICC event is slated to take place in June in the USA and West Indies.
He will be one of the four specialist spinners on the roster, along with Rashid Khan, Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, and Nangyal Kharoti. Meanwhile, Mohammad Nabi will also serve as a spin-bowling all-rounder.
In the 2023 ODI World Cup, Ahmad scalped five wickets in four games. It will be interesting to see if he can be potent enough in the T20 WC with his performances on spin-assisting surfaces, especially in the Caribbean.
