IPL 2023: Virat Kohli on Cloud 9! Says 'RCB is Best After..' Opens up about comparison after Defeating MI in Opening Clash

IPL 2023: Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis' 148-run partnership for the first wicket helped Royal Challengers Bangalore win the match by eight wickets as they kicked off their IPL 2023 campaign with a victory against the five-time champion Mumbai Indians. The former captain of RCB likened his club to Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, the two most successful IPL teams, in the post-game interview.

Also Read: IPL Viral Video: Faf Du Plessis Goes All Gun-Blazing, Launches Back-to-Back Six Assault on MI, Watch here

What did Virat Kohli say?

In the post-match ceremony, the 34-year old Virat Kohli praised Tilak Verma for his excellent performance in the match. Additionally, he also applauded Karn Sharma for his outstanding bowling spell. He stated, "We bowled well for the first 17 overs but then credit to their batters especially Tilak who batted really well… I think he (Karn Sharma) was phenomenal, phenomenal spell from him, that's brave bowling after getting the left-hander out."

The ex-captain of the Indian cricket team, Virat Kohli, compared Royal Challengers Bangalore with two other top-performing IPL teams, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. He highlighted RCB's impressive playoff qualifications record and reminded critics that they are the third team, after MI and CSK, to achieve the most playoff qualifications in IPL history.

He stated, "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. 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."

RCB starts IPL 2023 with a bang

Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and chose to bowl first in the match against Mumbai Indians. RCB started strong by dismissing the first three Mumbai Indians' batsmen in the powerplay. However, Tilak Verma single-handedly kept Mumbai Indians in the game by scoring 84 runs off just 46 balls, leading his team to a total of 171 runs with seven wickets lost. Despite an injury to Reece Topley, RCB's Karn Sharma (2/32) and Mohammed Siraj (1/21) delivered great performances during the match.

RCB's chase of the target was exceptional, with openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis playing their natural game and achieving a strike rate of over 160 each. Kohli scored 82 runs off 49 balls while du Plessis scored 73 runs off 43 balls. Faf du Plessis was named the Player of the Match as RCB won the game comfortably by eight wickets at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

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