Former Proteas all-rounder and big hitter Albie Morkel has opened up on his famous assault on Virat Kohli during a 2012 IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

With the Super Kings requiring 43 runs to win off the final 12 deliveries, a young Kohli was handed the ball to bowl the penultimate over with Morkel on strike.

The South African brought his team right back into the contest as he struck 28 runs off Kohli’s over, which included three massive sixes.

It helped the Super Kings chase down RCB’s score of 205-8, which is the second-highest successful run chase in the competition’s history.

Speaking on the CSK YouTube, Morkel sympathised with Kohli, who has never been known for his part-time bowling.

‘RCB had the game in their bag. I had no idea why they bowled Virat. All due respect to him, he shouldn’t have bowled that over anyway. We lost a wicket in the last ball of the 18th over,’ said Morkel, who was on 0 when Kohli steamed in for the first ball of the 19th over.

‘The 19th and 20th were left. We needed 42 off two. I walked in at No 7. You look at the scoreboard and you’re like, “Oh no, 40 odd off two, that’s impossible.” You walk in and then you see Virat’s bowling, then I thought, “If I can connect a few, maybe we can get close.”‘

Despite Morkel losing his wicket in the final over, Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja got their team over the line.

‘That moment lasted about 15 minutes in my career. It is magical to look back at,’ Morkel added.

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