Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) got their campaign off to a convincing start in the IPL 2023, beating Mumbai Indians by eight wickets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.Virat Kohli (82 runs; 49b, 6x4, 5x6) and skipper Faf du Plessis (73 runs; 43b, 5x4, 6x6) put on a stellar show for the opening wicket, compiling 148 runs, as RCB romped home in only 16.2 overs. In the process, Tilak Varma's sensational 84 off 46 balls that included nine fours and four sixes was not enough to shield MI as the visitors failed to defend the 171.
Suresh Raina, a JioCinema IPL expert, praised RCB's chase. "The way RCB chased the total down in 16 overs, this will help their run rate later in the tournament," said Raina. "MI's bowling looked really weak. It didn't even look like a wicket would fall," he added.
Former RCB icon and JioCinema expert Chris Gayle, too, was impressed with du Plessis and Kohli. "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," said Gayle.
"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 over comes, 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."
The young Varma came in for praise from RP Singh, who said that the former did a commendable job after MI had lost quick wickets. "MI were struggling when he came into bat as the top order was back in the dugout by then. But he did a commendable job of resurrecting the innings and then scoring big himself."