Prior to the start of the Indian Premier League 2023, former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Chris Gayle shared his and AB de Villiers‘ prediction for Virat Kohli. He predicted that the next several days will be a disaster for bowlers.
Virat Kohli, batting for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), got his IPL 2023 season off to a rousing start with a monumental century against the Mumbai Indians (MI). The right-hander impressed with his superior form and his ability to smash the bowlers across the field.
Kohli made a grand entrance at the Chinnaswamy with a thunderous innings of 82 runs, which included 6 fours and 5 sixes, at a strike rate of 167.35. He also joined an elite club, becoming only the second batter in league history to achieve this feat.
The best part of his innings was how optimistic he was and how little he mistimed the ball. When facing Kohli, even a good bowler like Jofra Archer appeared lost in front of the audience. Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers made their predictions for the IPL public as Virat Kohli smashed a century in RCB’s season-opening win over MI. He went into further detail on the Jio Cinema post-game programme.
“We talked about Virat before the tournament – AB and I. De Villiers said ‘Hey, he’s a bit hungry’. There’s going to be carnage for bowlers in the days to come.”
During the previous IPL campaign, Virat’s form was abysmal, and he was unable to score any runs at all. But ever since the Asia Cup 2022, he has been back to his old self, scoring runs regularly.
KKR vs RCB: “Virat and Faf are going to feed off each other perfectly,” Chris Gayle lauds RCB’s opening duo
In the first match between KKR and RCB, both Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis played at their traditional best. The RCB captain hit 6 fours and 5 sixes on his way to 73 runs off just 43 balls. The opening partnership they sewed together of 148 runs nearly won the game for their side.
The teamwork that Virat and Faf displayed against MI left Gayle awestruck. He praised the pair for their inter-wicket speed and warned bowlers to be on the lookout for them. As he elaborated,
“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. 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 overcomes, 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.”
Following his impressive performance against the Mumbai Indians on April 2nd, Virat Kohli and the rest of RCB will face the Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday, April 6th, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
