Virat Kohli, the Indian cricket superstar, has once again been tasked with leading the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) side in IPL 2023, as Faf du Plessis remains unfit for fielding. However, du Plessis will play as an impact player and open the batting for RCB.
Kohli has won the toss and has opted to bowl first, as he believes his team can chase down any target set by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the second half of the tournament. Kohli stated that it was a “no-brainer” to bowl first, as the evening game at Chinnaswamy stadium is expected to favor chasing teams. He also added that his team has chased well on this ground in the past.
Kohli seems to be enjoying his stand-in captaincy, stating that it’s been fun so far, thanks to the way the team has been playing. He also expressed hope that du Plessis will be back leading the team from the next game. The RCB captain praised the pitch and called it a “usual Chinnaswamy pitch that we expect.”
Decided to bowl first. No brainer. Evening game at Chinnaswamy, we’ve chased well here. It was unexpected but nothing I’m not used to (stand-in captaincy). It’s been fun so far because of the way the team has been playing. Faf will be playing the impact role again. Hopefully he’ll be back leading from the next game. Looks like a great pitch, the usual Chinnaswamy pitch that we expect.
KKR captain Nitish Rana, on the other hand, acknowledged that the second half of the tournament has started and this is an important game for his team. He added that KKR has played some good cricket and some not so good, and it’s time for them to step up. Rana emphasized that if they play well collectively, the result will be in their favor.
KKR has made one change from the last match, with Vaibhav Arora coming in for Kulwant Khejroliya. Rana also revealed that they were going to bat first, and they have had unforced changes in the previous games, with Shardul Thakur and Rahmanullah Gurbaz having niggles.
Second half of the tournament has started, it’s an important game. We’ve played some good cricket, some not so good. It’s time to step up. If we play well collectively, the result will be in our favour. In previous games, we’ve had unforced changes. Shardul had a niggle, Gurbaz had a niggle. We were going to bat. One change from the last match – Vaibhav Arora comes in for Kulwant.
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): N Jagadeesan(w), Jason Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana(c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, David Wiese, Vaibhav Arora, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli(c), Shahbaz Ahmed, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik(w), Suyash Prabhudessai, Wanindu Hasaranga, David Willey, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj
