A stark contrast to last year, Virat Kohli has started the IPL 2023 with a bang. His unbeaten 82 off 49 balls capped off Royal Challengers Bangalore's eight-wicket-thrashing of Mumbai Indians on Sunday. Kohli's stupendous knock that included six fours and five sixes over shadowed Tilak Verma's gritty 84 and knocked the stuffing out of the MI bowlers who were defending 171. Kohli and captain Faf du Plessis began with a storm, their cracking 148-run partnership inside 15 overs, giving RCN the perfect start in pursuit of the target. In the end, although du Plessis was dismissed, Kohli fittingly cracked a six to finish the game with 22 balls to spare.
It took Kohli just one innings to outscore himself in the first 4 innings of last IPL combined. Back in form, Kohli returned to his dominant best against MI and if his former RCB teammates Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers are to be believed, these are ominous signs for oppositions. Universe Boss Gayle in fact revealed a surreal prediction from De Villiers before Kohli began his IPL 2023 campaign for RCB in cracking fashion.
"We talked about Virat before the tournament - AB and I. De Villiers said 'Hey, he's a bit hungry'. There's going to be carnage for bowlers in the days to come," Gayle said in the post-match show on Jio Cinema.
Kohli seems to be revelling in the role of RCB opener. Last year, Kohli started IPL 2022 by batting at No. 3 before being promoted as an opener, and although he scored 341 runs from 16 games, the fluence was missing. However, having gotten back to his groove scoring centuries for India, Kohli carried the same form into the IPL and the start has been nothing short of exemplary. Besides Kohli, Gayle also lauded Du Plessis and is confident of him and Kohli firing in tandem in the remainder of IPL 2023.
{{/usCountry}}Kohli seems to be revelling in the role of RCB opener. Last year, Kohli started IPL 2022 by batting at No. 3 before being promoted as an opener, and although he scored 341 runs from 16 games, the fluence was missing. However, having gotten back to his groove scoring centuries for India, Kohli carried the same form into the IPL and the start has been nothing short of exemplary. Besides Kohli, Gayle also lauded Du Plessis and is confident of him and Kohli firing in tandem in the remainder of IPL 2023.
{{/usCountry}}"We know Faf is class. He's an excellent captain and an excellent player. He has done it all over international cricket as well, so this is not new to Faf. One thing I can tell you, Virat and Faf are going to feed off each other perfectly. Look at the way they start, they look to drop and run. They pick up their ones and their twos and by the third overcomes, they're ready to take it out. That's something bowlers and teams got to be aware of because these two, I've said this before, you're guaranteed almost 400 runs," Gayle added.