Virat Kohli will be seen leading the Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) pack yet again after two years since he stepped down from the coveted post. The 27th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 between RCB and Punjab Kings (PBKS) took everyone by surprise when former skipper Virat Kohli came to the toss at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Thursday (April 20).
After the toss, which PBKS' skipper Sam Curran and opted to field first, Kohli said that RCB's regular captain FaF Du Plessis, who picked up a rib injury in the match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), won't be able to field, so he will only bat for the team.
“Faf potentially can't be fielding today, so he'll be playing as a impact player, switching with Vyshak. We got to do what we wanted, we would have batted first, the pitch could get slow, some scruff marks will help the bowlers going deep into the game. Taking one game at a time, focusing on our own game, make the most of crunch situations, we haven't done that so far in the tournament. No other changes for us,” RCB's stand-in skipper Kohli said after the toss.
Notably, before the second leg of IPL 2021 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kohli announced that he would be stepping down as the skipper of the franchise after leading RCB for nine seasons. Back in 2013, Kohli took over as the Challengers’ skipper from Daniel Vettori. However, RCB couldn't win a single IPL title in his stint as captain.
Meanwhile, Faf played a gritty knock against CSK in which he batted through and through in pain. However, RCB lost the game despite Faf's heroics.
RCB captain Faf and Glenn Maxwell put on an electrifying performance that kept RCB in the running for the win but they lost the game by eight runs. Faf played a captain’s knock as he scored 62 runs off 33 balls, smashing 5 fours and 4 sixes. He was dismissed in the 14th over by Moeen Ali.
“We will bowl first, did well in the last game and we'll take some confidence, conditions will not change a lot. Shikhar is getting closer, but he'll miss out today. He's a quality player, but the younger lot will have to shape up, Livingstone is back and we have Ellis back in place of KG,” PBKS' stand-in skipper Curran said after winning the toss.
Follow the PBKS vs RCB's live scores here
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Matches played: 30
Punjab Kings won: 17
Royal Challengers Bangalore won: 13
Last result: Punjab Kings won by 54 runs (Brabourne; 2022)
Last five results: PBKS won - 4; RCB won - 1
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli(c), Faf du Plessis, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik(w), Wanindu Hasaranga, Suyash Prabhudessai, Harshal Patel, Wayne Parnell, Mohammed Siraj.
RCB impact substitutes - Vyshak Vijaykumar, David Willey, Karm Sharma, Akash Deep, Anuj Rawat
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Atharva Taide, Matthew Short, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh.
PBKS impact substitutes - Prabhsimran Singh, Mohit Rathee, Shivam Singh, Rishi Dhawan, Sikandar Raza
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