Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter, Chris Gayle made a massive prediction after RCB’s opening game victory that Virat Kohli of the 2016 edition is back. Kohli in the 5th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, played a match-winning knock to take his side to the victory against Mumbai Indians (MI) by 8 wickets.
RCB was playing their first game in M.Chinnaswamy stadium after a gap of three years, they last played in their home stadium in the 2019 edition.
Chris Gayle thinks there is no pressure on Virat Kohli this year-
“I am sure (signs are there), there is no pressure on Virat this year. We talked about it before the tournament. Me and AB. AB said ‘Hey, he is hungry, there is no pressure’. We have seen the Virat that we saw in 2016 and this could be trouble for bowlers,” said former West Indies cricketer.
In the 2016 edition of the IPL, Virat Kohli-led RCB was defeated in the finals by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), although the ace Indian batter scored 973 runs at an average of 81.08 and a strike rate of 152.03 and won the ‘Orange Cap’, his stint in the season also including four hundred and seven fifties in the season.
While at the second spot was SRH’s skipper David Warner with 848 runs, while no other batter in the history of IPL has scored more than 900 runs in a season till today.
“This can be very interesting to see how he carries on. 82 not out, a fantastic start. With Faf doing well, it’s going to be carnage for the bowlers at the other end.
“It (crowd support) will help a lot. The fans have a big part to play in this as well. They haven’t had a home game in 3 years. You want to prove something to the fans. This will propel a player like Virat to do well for their fans. We saw them cheering all night for the team. I am happy,” he further added.
Coming into the match, RCB vs MI, Faf du Plessis-led RCB won the toss and opted to bowl first, Mumbai based side batted first and posted a total of 171 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs, MI youngster Tilak Verma scored brilliant 84 runs in 46 balls for his side.
“This is not new for Faf. We all know his class, he has done it in the IPL and in international cricket as well. He is a wonderful leader. One thing I can tell you, Virat and Faf will feed off each other perfectly. They will look to drop and run, pick up 1s and 2s. And when the time comes, they will be ready to take them down,” concluded veteran RCB batter.
The 6️⃣ that sealed ✌️ points for us in our season opener tonight. ?#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2023 #RCBvMI
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) April 2, 2023
While in reply, RCB chased down the target with ease, and with 22 balls remaining, their star opening duo of du Plessis and Virat Kohli added 148 runs for the opening stand, Kohli remained not out on 82 runs and finished the game in style with a six on the last ball.
After the completion of the 5th match, all 10 teams in IPL 2023 have started their camping, meanwhile, on April 3 Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at Chennai, CSK lost their first game against Gujarat Titans, whereas LSG won their curtain opener against Delhi Capitals (DC).
Also read: IPL 2023: Virat Kohli Becomes 1st Indian Cricketer To Achieve This Massive Record In IPL