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Irfan Pathan Lauds Virat Kohli's Batting Approach Against MI's Jofra Archer

image-lg0rwh6eVirat Kohli ( AP News)

The IPL 2023 season for Royal Challengers Bangalore started with a commanding win against Mumbai Indians at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. 

RCB easily chased down the target of 172 runs, reaching 172/2 in just 16.2 overs. Virat Kohli played an outstanding unbeaten innings of 82 runs off 49 balls, hitting six fours and five sixes, while Faf du Plessis, the team's captain, also contributed a superb knock of 73 runs off 43 balls, which included five fours and six sixes.


Mumbai Indians set a target of 171/7 in 20 overs, thanks to Tilak Varma's unbeaten 84-run knock off 46 balls. However, RCB had no trouble in chasing the target, with Kohli's and du Plessis' outstanding partnership that led the team to an easy eight-wicket victory. Also, Karn Sharma's two wickets contributed to RCB's win.

In a post-match analysis on Star Sports, former India cricketer Irfan Pathan praised Kohli's performance and drew a comparison between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, who used to target the big bowlers in the opposition team like Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne and said:

"Great players do that. Sachin Tendulkar used to do that. He used to target the big bowlers in the opposition team, whether it was Glenn McGrath or Shane Warne, we have seen that repeatedly. Virat Kohli is also a player of the same stature. So he says that he will try to do even better when confronted with a challenge."

Also, comparing him against Jofra Archer, he added, “I was personally excited to watch the face-off between Jofra Archer and Virat Kohli. Virat Kohli won that contest this time. There was a chance on the first ball but after that, he didn't look behind. Only Jofra Archer was turning back as the ball was going beyond the boundary line.”

In IPL 2016, Kohli had captained RCB and won the Orange Cap, scoring 973 runs, which remains the record for the most runs scored in a single IPL season. Back then, Kohli scored four centuries, including one in a 15-over match against PBKS. However, despite Kohli's strong performances, RCB lost to SunRisers Hyderabad, led by David Warner, in the final match.