The Virat Kohli-starrer Royal Challengers Bangalore kickstarted their campaign in the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League with a blockbuster note by registering an emphatic eight-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians at their home ground M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
After registering a blockbuster win, batting superstar Virat Kohli came out in strong defence of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) trophy drought in the IPL. While RCB stands out as one of the most attractive teams in the IPL, however, the Bangalore-based side has failed to get its hands time-and-again on the prestigious trophy.
The team has made it to the playoffs eight times, but they have failed to reach the finals after 2016. RCB has lost in the finals thrice in 2009, 2011, and 2016.
RCB began their pursuit of their maiden title by defeating Mumbai Indians by successfully chasing the target of 171 runs with 22 balls to spare. Both Faf du Plessis (73 of 43) and Virat Kohli (82 of 49) lit the M Chinnaswamy Stadium with their spectacular batting performances.
The sensational RCB duo ran havoc on MI’s bowling attack, which was left clueless as they put up a 149-run opening partnership.
Virat Kohli Gave A Perfect Reply To RCB’s Critics:
Later after the stunning win, when Virat Kohli was asked about RCB’s desire to win their first-ever title and how they deal with the pressure of never winning the silver-ware. The former RCB captain came up with a perfect reply for the critics as he defended his side by highlighting how RCB is one of the most consistent sides in the competitions and one that has reached the playoffs the third most number of times. He said:
“I wanted to mention this for a while – after MI who have 5 titles and CSK who have 4, if I’m not wrong, we are the third team to have qualified the most times to the playoffs – 8 times. Take one game at a time and try to be a balanced side which we are and we would look to execute our plans as we did tonight,”
Talking about Kohli, he played a sensational knock for RCB in their opening game. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 82 runs off 49 balls, smashing 4 fours and 5 sixes as he helped his side win the first game.
