Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik | BCCI/IPL/Screengrab

Virat Kohli:Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) celebrated their return to the Chinnaswamy Stadium with a resounding win against Mumbai Indians. They thumped the five-time champions by 8 wickets and marked their first win of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. It was a staggering effort from their end as they ticked every box right to win their fourth consecutive match against Mumbai Indians. 

Virat Kohli plays a staggering unbeaten knock of 82 runs against Mumbai Indians 

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis | BCCI/IPL

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Virat Kohli was at his absolute best in their first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 against Mumbai Indians. The batter look exceptional to the eyes and was at his fluent best. He hardly mistimed any ball and made sure that he took his side home. 

Chasing the target of 172 runs, Virat Kohli came out all guns blazing and smashed Mumbai Indians bowlers all over the park. He made the opposition look clueless and made a mockery of a target as he smashed a 148-run partnership with skipper Faf du Plessis, who scored 73 runs. 

Virat kickstarted the league on a high as he smashed unbeaten 82 runs that took Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) home in just 16.2 runs. He smashed 6 fours and 5 sixes in his innings and batted with a strike rate of 167.35. 

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It’s fair to say that so far in 5 matches, his knock was the best as he oozed his class and made bowlers toil hard. Kohli’s form would be a great plus for RCB going into the tournament. If he continues batting the way he did, it’s fair to say that he can take the team to great heights. 

“Not many people can say that they have stepped down & hit Archer over covers,” Dinesh Karthik lavishes rich praise on Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli | BCCI/IPL

It’s fair to say that battle between Virat Kohli and Jofra Archer was something almost everyone waited for. To the fans, delight, Kohli stood tall and dominated the MI bowler. He smashed him all over the park and scored 28 runs against Jofra Archer, which is the most by a batter against an English bowler in a T20 game. 

Following Kohli’s battle against Archer, his teammate Dinesh Karthik has lavished rich praise on him. He said. “Not many people can say that they have stepped down & hit Archer over covers, that is Virat Kohli for you, he sees the big guy in the opponent & realises that he wants to take him on, he makes a statement”.

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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