Siraj beats Virat twice in nets; Kohli’s unreal comeback then brings back memories of MCG epic vs Pakistan
Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj geared up for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s high-octane IPL 2023 clash against Kolkata Knight Riders in style by engaging themselves in an intense duel ahead of the tie. The two in-form RCB stars squared off in the nets and what transpired was proper box office.
Two of RCB’s most energetic and animated having a crack at each other lived up to its hype as both had their moments; however, it was Kohli who had the last laugh and left Siraj out of answers.
Siraj has been RCB’s top bowler this season with 13 wickets already from seven matches, including 3/22 against Lucknow Super Giants and 4/21 against Punjab Kings. Kohli, on the other hand, has piled 279 runs with four half-centuries and is placed fifth in the Orange Cap list. Hence, a fascinating battle awaited. RCB on their Twitter handle shared a minute-long clip of Siraj bowling to Kohli, which had epic written all over it.
Siraj began by beating Kohli twice, once outside off and the second time leaving his former India and RCB captain clueless. Kohli then nodded his head in acknowledgment, but given what happened next, it was almost as if he told Siraj ‘Your time is up’. Pandemonium ensued thereafter as Kohli went after Siraj full throttle. He brought out some monstrous sixes – including the straight six he famously hit off Haris Rauf against Pakistan at the T20 World Cup last October. Kohli went absolutely berserk, lining himself up and hitting one lofted drive after another on the up. At the end, even Siraj acknowledged that he was after all, bowling to one of the GOATs.
“The way I operate in the Powerplay, I stuck to the same approach. When the ball is new, obviously there is some swing. After that, we all know what King Kohli is capable of when he is in form. He smashed me all over the Chinnaswamy,” said Siraj.
The IPL 2023 has proved to be wonderful for Kohli in more than ways. Besides burning up the charts opening the innings, Kohli even returned to captaining RCB in the last two matches in place of the injured Faf du Plessis, who only batted and was substituted at the time of RCB’s fielding. Under Kohli, RCB defeated Punjab Kings and the Rajasthan Royals to notch up back-to-back victories and be placed fifth on the points-table. Their next game is against the woeful Kolkata Knight Riders, who have suffered four defeats on the bounce. RCB and KKR have battled 32 times in the IPL with the two-time winners holding the edge with 18 wins. In fact, KKR won the the first round between these two teams by a solid 81 runs.