Moeen Ali and Virat Kohli
Royal Challengers Bangalore's cricketers Moeen Ali and Virat Kohli (R) celebrate as Kolkata Knight Riders's captain Dinesh Karthik(L) looks on during the IPL match between them at the Eden Gardens Cricket Stadium, in Kolkata on April 19, 2019. Image Credit: AFP

New Delhi: It is well known that star Indian batsman Virat Kohli is fondly called ‘chiku’ by his teammates inside the national dressing room.

Apart from this, Kohli has been given various other nicknames across the cricketing fraternity such as ‘run machine’, ‘King Kohli’, ‘chase master’, which people use while talking about his batting skills.

However, the 30-year-old Indian skipper got one more nickname following his prolific ton in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

After Kohli scored a match-winning hundred against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens on Friday, De Villiers heaped praise on his Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain and called him “little biscuit”.

“VIRAT!!!!!!!!!!! you little biscuit. Top knock from Mo’en Ali as well. Bowlers to follow through what’s been a very good 1st half,” said De Villiers on Twitter.

RCB defeated KKR by 10 runs in what was a must-win clash for them to keep their slim chances of making it to the play-offs alive in the ongoing edition of the IPL. Kohli & co now run into table toppers Chennai Super Kings at home on Sunday.

Riding on the blistering ton from Kohli (100 off 58 balls) and a 66-run knock from Mo’en, RCB posted 213/4 in their 20 overs which they successfully defended.

This was Kohli’s first century in this IPL season and fifth overall.

De Villiers was not 100 per cent fit before the start of the game and Kohli decided to rest him. After the game, Kohli said that the former South Africa batsman was disappointed at not being a part of the match. “AB was disappointed for not making it for the game tonight and I told him that I’ll give him a hug if we win tonight.”

Kohli, meanwhile, credited England all-rounder Moeen Ali’s blistering knock of 66 off 28 deliveries for changing the game at the Eden Gardens. “The wicket was doing a bit early on, length balls were very difficult to get away ... the way Mo came in and he batted, it just took momentum away from them and put it right back into our lap,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation.

“He changed the game completely and that allowed me to play through. I could accelerate in the end just because of the way Mo’en played there.” Batting at No. 4, the 31-year-old Mo’en, who has been named in England’s preliminary squad for the World Cup, dominated the 90-run stand with Kohli that gave Bangalore the momentum after a slow start.

With Bangalore at 59-2 in the ninth over, the left-handed batsman came in and hit six sixes — three of them in a 27-run over against India left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav — and five fours in his knock.

Champions Chennai Super Kings lead the standings on 14 points with seven wins from their nine matches.