IPL 2023: The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is just 6 matches old and we have already seen some spectacular performances. Talking about batting, the youngsters as well as experienced players have stood tall and have shown the trailers of what’s about to come. There have been many classical innings in just a few games and it’s fair to say that the race to the orange cap will be a difficult one this time with all the exciting talent in frey.
IPL 2023:Aakash Chopra backs Virat Kohli to be in the orange cap race for the tournament
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Virat Kohli kickstarted the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on a dominating note. The batter played a staggering knock against Mumbai Indians (MI) in their opening encounter and guided his team home.
After RCB restricted MI to 171 runs, not many expected the home side to play this aggressively. But in what was a delight for fans, Virat Kohli set the stage on fire and played one of the best innings of this year’s league so far.
Kohli, who opened the innings, took charge to the MI bowlers and smashed them all over the park. He made the opposition look clueless as he played staggering strokes and also stitched 148 runs for the opening partnership with skipper Faf du Plessis.
Kohli remained unbeaten on 82 runs and made sure that he finish the game early for his team. His knock of 82 runs included 6 fours and 5 sixes as he batted with a strike rate of 167.35 to take his team home by 8 wickets and mark their first win of the season.
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Aakash Chopra was left amazed by Virat Kohli’s strokes and said that with the way he batted, he showed the shades of his 2016 season. Speaking in a video posted on his YouTube channel, he said:
“From Virat Kohli’s knock, it seems he will remain in the Orange Cap race this year. There is some similarity between 2016 and this season. He was in sublime form for six months at the international level ahead of IPL 2016. Now also he is close to that sublime form at the international level.”
IPL 2023: “Faf du Plessis was the aggressor,” Aakash Chopra hails opening partnership of RCB against MI
IPL 2023: Not only Virat Kohli, but RCB skipper Faf du Plessis was in sublime form too. The batter looked easy on the eyes and played staggeringly well. The right-hander took the aerial route and went after the bowlers right from ball 1. He scored 73 runs in 43 balls, stitching a 148-run partnership with Kohli.
Chopra was impressed by the RCB’s opening partnership and lauded the duo of Du Plessis and Kohli. He further elaborated: “Faf du Plessis was the aggressor. He went fast at the start and then Virat Kohli caught up. When you are chasing and especially if it is the Chinnaswamy ground, one plus one is not two, but it becomes 11 when two openers play like that.”
RCB will next take on Kolkata Knight Riders in their next match on Thursday (6th April) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
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