Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the high-octane Indian Premier League 2023 (IPL) clash on Wednesday, April 26, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Kohli captained RCB in their previous two fixtures against Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) and guided the team to victories. In the last match against RR, the stand-in RCB skipper could not perform well with the bat as he was handed a golden duck by Trent Boult.
Ahead of RCB’s clash against KKR, the veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh made a huge remark on the star batter. The 42-year-old opined that it is Kohli’s responsibility to perform flawlessly for the hosts at the high-scoring venue. He went on to say that the former India skipper’s partnership with Faf du Plessis will be crucial for the three-time finalists in front of their home crowd.
“Virat Kohli will have to take the responsibility to keep RCB up. His partnership with Faf will be crucial. Virat and Faf are in good form, and this will always give relief to RCB,” the former cricketer told Star Sports.
It has always been difficult for me to get Kohli out: Tahir
Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) spinner Imran Tahir shared his opinion ahead of the game and hailed Kohli as a top-class batter. The former South African cricketer admitted that it was always challenging for him to get rid of the 34-year-old batter during his playing days in the IPL. He added that RCB would have high expectations for the star batter this season and that he should consider continuing to bat a little bit longer.
“Virat Kohli is a class batsman. It has always been difficult for me to get him out. I want him to score a lot of runs in IPL. His team has high hopes for him, and for this reason, Virat should think about staying on the wicket for a little longer,” added Tahir.
RCB are currently placed fifth in the IPL 2023 points table, having won four of their seven matches. Meanwhile, Kohli has smashed 279 runs for RCB and is ranked fifth on the IPL 2023 Orange Cap list. Furthermore, the leading run-scorer of the IPL has scored four half-centuries in the ongoing edition.