Kohli makes a statement by hitting Jofra Archer over mid-off: Dinesh Karthik

Bengaluru| Virat Kohli demonstrated his courage by not holding back while facing Jofra Archer in Sunday’s IPL 2023 match between Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Jofra Archer put down Kohli on his first ball of the match. Kohli then followed it up with a boundary through third man and smacked a six over long-off.

Kohli was in sublime touch to be 82 not out off 49 balls, laced with six fours and five sixes to chase 172 in 16.2 overs to get their IPL 2023 campaign off to a winning start.

Kohli’s teammate, Dinesh Karthik lauded the former skipper and said that the top-order batter made a statement by hitting Archer over the covers.

“That’s Virat Kohli for you. He sees the big dog in the opponent and realises that he wants to take him on. That’s the guy he wants to take on. He makes a statement, steps out, hits him over mid-off. Not many people can say that they have stepped down and hit Jofra over the covers.

“It was just the way he dominated and it was a statement saying that ‘I am here to make a difference to this team’. It was a confidence booster for the way he played,” Karthik was quoted as saying on Jio TV.

“He has been brilliant, he led the team well, somebody who is very bold. It’s just the way he is batting, not only this year, last year as well for RCB, going on to do what he has done consistently,” he added.

Karthik heaped praise on Faf du Plessis for his precise leadership skills and consistent run-scoring abilities.

“He has been brilliant, he led the team well, somebody who is very bold. It’s just the way he is batting, not only this year, last year as well for RCB, going on to do what he has done consistently,” Karthik said.

After kicking off their campaign with a win against five-time champions Mumbai Indians, RCB will next take on Kolkata Knight Riders on April 6 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.