With a convincing eight-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in their IPL 2023 season opener on Sunday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Royal Challengers Bangalore got off to a strong start. Virat Kohli scored an unbroken 82 off 49 balls while RCB was chasing a total of 172, reaching 172/2 in 16.2 overs. Kohli hit six fours and five sixes. Faf du Plessis, the captain, too played a fantastic innings, scoring 73 off just 43 balls while hitting six sixes and five fours.
Irfan Pathan offers his thoughts on Virat Kohli’s strategy when facing Jofra Archer.
Tilak Verma scored an unbeaten 84 off 46 balls to help MI post 171/7 in 20 overs at first, but it was insufficient for his team. Karn Sharma, bowling brilliantly for RCB, claimed two wickets at this time.
Irfan Pathan, a former cricketer for India, praised Kohli’s performance in a post-game interview and made a direct connection to the batting. That’s why Virat Kohli claims that when presented with a challenge, he will try to go even better, Irfan remarked on Star Sports. “Great players do that. Sachin Tendulkar used to do it. He used to target the top bowlers of the opposition, be it Glenn McGrath or Shane Warne, we have seen it time and time again.
He added, complimenting his strategy against Jofra Archer, “I was personally excited to see the face-off between Jofra Archer and Virat Kohli. Virat Kohli won that match this time. Got a chance on the first ball, but after that he did not look back. Only Jofra Archer was turning back as the ball was going outside the boundary line.
The former RCB captain won the Orange Cap in IPL 2016 by hitting 973 runs, which also holds the record for most runs in a single IPL season. Kohli was in excellent form in IPL 2022, finishing the season with 341 runs from 16 matches, but it was not enough as RCB were eliminated in the playoffs.
Throughout the season, he scored four tons, including one against PBKS in a 15-over encounter with a limited over total, but even it was insufficient as RCB fell to Sunrisers Hyderabad, who were headed by David Warner, in the championship game.