Extending his much-anticipated captaincy stint in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Sunday, batting maestro Virat Kohli graced the iconic M.Chinnaswamy Stadium as the stand-in skipper of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise. With regular captain Faf du Plessis still nursing an injury, RCB opted to feature the veteran South African batter as an Impact Player for their blockbuster clash with table-toppers Rajasthan Royals (RR) in match No.32 of the IPL 2023.
Though Du Plessis was named in the playing XI, the RCB skipper is expected to make way for Harshal Patel or Karn Sharma as Kohli and Co. were invited to bat first by RR skipper Sanju Samson. Kohli is leading RCB at the Chinnaswamy Stadium for the first time since the 2019 edition of the cash-rich league. Speaking at the coin toss, Kohli revealed that he was informed about leading the Bangalore heavyweights in the absence of regular captain Du Plessis.
“It was pretty easy to choose, we'd have batted first. This wicket looks dry and it will get drier and might break up first. I didn't say that to Sanju, but I'm very happy to bat first. We both get to do what we wanted. Mike Hesson asked me, 'what are you feeling?' I said, 'nothing that I'm used to!' The only thing I was thinking about the toss! My toss record hasn't been great,” Kohli said.
{{/usCountry}}“It was pretty easy to choose, we'd have batted first. This wicket looks dry and it will get drier and might break up first. I didn't say that to Sanju, but I'm very happy to bat first. We both get to do what we wanted. Mike Hesson asked me, 'what are you feeling?' I said, 'nothing that I'm used to!' The only thing I was thinking about the toss! My toss record hasn't been great,” Kohli said.
{{/usCountry}}The batting icon also confirmed that the Bangalore-based franchise has decided to make one change in their playing XI."They informed me last time saying I might have to captain a couple of games, nothing I'm not used to doing. So I'm happy to step in, ready to continue from whatever Faf has been doing. The team has responded well, we are playing with a lot of energy and that showed in the last game. One change for us, Wayne Parnell is out and he will be replaced by David Willey. Faf continues to play as an impact sub," Kohli added. Kohli was handed a golden duck by RR pacer Trent Boult.