Virat Kohli, who bats first for RCB along with skipper Faf du Plessis, has 103 runs in two games.
Virat Kohli has led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to a dominant start in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season with over 100 runs in the first two games. Fans who have hoped to see their team win the coveted trophy since the T20 league’s inception in 2008 now have high hopes thanks to Kohli’s efforts. But going forward, former India great Irfan Pathan has urged Kohli to bat for the RCB in the middle order rather than at the top of the order.
Pathan’s remarks caught everyone off guard because Kohli has been playing well as the opener for the Bengaluru team. The former all-rounder, however, had a good reason.
“RCB’s season is starting off differently this time around as runs are coming off Virat Kohli’s bat in the early going. However, there is no assurance that he will keep up his scoring rate (or for the rest of the season) and help you win every game. The RCB team’s other batters will need to rise to the occasion in a tournament like this and demonstrate their abilities and roles. Additionally, I don’t believe Kohli should start the RCB batting order, Pathan stated in a Star Sports interview.
Even ex-Australian cricketer Tom Moody believes the RCB middle order is porous, making the idea of Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli holding down the top two positions dangerous.
Teams will want to take advantage of RCB’s middle order’s perceived weakness and quickly dismiss Kohli and Faf. In his opinion, the game versus RCB would be very much in play if the rival sides were able to grab a few wickets during powerplays.
Sunil Gavaskar, a legend of India cricket, claims that while Kohli is now looking menacing in the T20 format, he would undoubtedly need the help of other batters in the team in the TATA IPL 2023.
“RCB are counting on Kohli this year. The likelihood of RCB winning rises if he performs well in every game. Virat is one of the biggest superstars; supporters of all teams would like to see runs coming off of his bat, not only those of RCB. But other team members will need to step up and carry more of the strain, he said.
