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Royal Challengers Bangalore’s star batter Virat Kohli produced a scintillating performance in the side’s opening match of the season against Mumbai Indians in the 2023 Indian Premier League on Sunday night.
Kohli remained unbeaten on 82 off just 49 deliveries as RCB cruised to a massive 8-wicket victory over their arch-rivals in Bengaluru. Kohli opened the innings alongside captain Faf du Plessis, who also scored a brilliant 73 off merely 43 deliveries, forging a 148-run partnership for the first wicket.
Following the innings, the fans and former cricketers raved over Kohli’s brilliant knock; the India star won the game for RCB with a huge six as RCB chased down a 172-run target with 22 balls to spare.
Kohli’s former RCB teammate Chris Gayle revealed that he actually had a chat with AB de Villiers, another former RCB star, about Kohli’s potential outings in the IPL this year; the South Africa great was confident about the 34-year-old producing strong performances for the RCB in 2023.
“I’m sure. There’s no pressure on Virat. We talked about him before the tournament, me and AB. AB said, ‘hey, he’s a bit hungry. There’s no pressure. And we have seen Virat in 2016. And this could be trouble for bowlers’. He got a brilliant start, 88 not out. There’s going to be carnage for bowlers in the days to come,” Gayle said on Jio Cinema.
“It will help a lot. Fans have a big part to play in this as well. We had a home game after 4 years, and you have to prove something to the home fans as well. Tey have to make sure they’re happy.”
Former cricketers Aaron Finch, Jacques Kallis, and Sunil Gavaskar also spoke in detail about Kohli’s innings; the former Australia captain pin-pointed the shot Kohli hit against Jofra Archer in the MI pacer’s first over, where he walked down the crease to smash him over mid-off.
“Incredible hitting. First up, he plays on, the shot for me was one off Jofra Archer at mid-off. To me, that tells me that he’s incredibly well-balanced at the crease. A phenomenal knock, and a great partnership with skipper Faf du Plessis,” Finch said on Star Sports.
Kallis, meanwhile, stated that Kohli is a “difficult batter to bowl to” because he relies more on rotating the strike.
“He brings the energy. He’s a difficult guy to bowl to, because upfront, he doesn’t hurt you with hitting those big sixes, he plays some ball to the ground, knocks it around, hurts you with fours. So, it’s the consistency that’s there. The partnership with Faf, he played the more aggressive role. He played the perfect game tonight,” said Kallis.
“The pull shot for six towards the end, it was a slower delivery. But he got to the position so quickly, and he just flicked it as he was flicking a fly. And it went deep,” Gavaskar, meanwhile, stated.
