Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) opening pair of Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis have been the best opening partnership of the IPL 2023 so far. The duo is right at the top with most runs as opening partners this season: 700 runs in 12 matches, averaging 58, and have been striking together at 141.
Behind them, and a distant second is CSK’s opening pair of Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad with 547 runs.
While Faf du Plessis is the leading run-scorer in the tournament so far with 631 runs, Virat Kohli is at 6th with 438 runs.
Off the field as well, Kohli and du Plessis have created a strong bond with each other. Their camaraderie has been adorable and fans have loved each and every moment the duo has spent together since the South African joined RCB last season.
One of the funny moments between them occurred earlier this season ahead of a game at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. Faf du Plessis’ batting stance is unusual and very unique where his hands are, non-traditionally, far away from the body.
When Faf was practising ahead of a game, Virat Kohli stood behind him and was imitating and shadow-batting in Faf’s stance. This led to a big laughter from the fans who were present at the venue and few recorded of it.
The video of this funny mimicking from Virat Kohli of Faf du Plessis’ stance has gone viral:
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Meanwhile, RCB still have their faith in their own hands courtesy of a massive 112 runs victory over Rajasthan Royals. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) recorded the third-lowest total in the IPL history of as they got bundled out for only 59 runs in their chase of 172 against RCB on Sunday in Jaipur.
They lost the match by a massive margin of 112 runs which had contrasting effects on the Net run rate of both the teams which meant RCB are in strong playoff contention while RR are now hanging by a thread.
Half-centuries from Faf du Plessis (55 off 44) and Glenn Maxwell (54 off 33), followed by sensational pace bowling show from Mohammed Siraj and Wayne Parnell led to RCB winning by such a huge margin, because of which not only RCB equaled RR on points, but also pipped them over on NRR.
For RCB, if they win both their remaining matches, they are likely to sneak into the playoffs because of their boosted NRR. MI and PBKS are two teams who could end up with 16 points, but RCB has a healthier NRR than both of those teams.
RCB’s remaining two matches are against SRH at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on May 18, followed by against Gujarat Titans at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
