On Sunday, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the Royal Challengers Bangalore faced off against the Mumbai Indians in their first match of the IPL 2023 season. Last season, the Faf du Plessis-led RCB team performed well until their elimination by the Rajasthan Royals in the Qualifier 2 match. Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians had a disappointing season, finishing in 10th place on the points table with only four wins in 14 matches. The RCB vs MI match ended in a resounding victory for the Bengaluru franchise, with Mumbai losing by eight wickets.
Prior to the highly anticipated match, Harshal Patel, the pace bowler for RCB, expressed that the bowling squad should devise a strategy to prevent Suryakumar Yadav from unleashing a series of attacks. He further mentioned that the former RCB batsman, AB de Villiers, was superior to the Indian batsman by a small margin.
However, the Indian cricket team’s premier T20 batsman failed badly in the opening match of the IPL 2023. Suryakumar Yadav could only score 15 runs in 16 balls in the match against the Faf du Plessis’ led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
Michael Bracewell bowled a brilliant ball to get the get Suryakumar Yadav caught out to Shahbaz Ahmed. Suryakumar Yadav failed miserably recently for the Indian team as well in the ODI format, getting out for back-to-back Golden Duck in 3 matches.
Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) bowler Harshal Patel mocked Suryakumar Yadav after his performance. Suryakumar is constantly being compared with former RCB batsman AB de Villiers for his ability to play shots all around the ground just like AB de Villiers.
“Someone of Surya’s calibre, who’s in the kind of form that he is in, all you can bank on is your planning and execution. What he does after that is up to him. This is not the first time I have encountered this problem,” said Harshal Patel.
He further added, “AB de Villiers was one step better than Surya, in the sense that he would make you bowl where he wanted.”
During the match, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis displayed an exceptional performance while chasing, delivering a masterful performance with their 148-run opening partnership. As a result, Royal Challengers Bangalore had a remarkable start to their IPL 2023 campaign, completely overwhelming the Mumbai Indians by a margin of eight wickets.
In pursuit of a target of 172, Kohli, scoring 82 not out, and Du Plessis, scoring 73, showcased an extraordinary display of elegant stroke-play, hitting 10 fours and as many sixes during their almost faultless 89-ball partnership. Following Du Plessis’ dismissal in the 15th over, Kohli finished the task, scoring a four and a six off Arshad Khan’s deliveries to score the winning runs and deliver Mumbai Indians their eleventh consecutive loss in their opening match of the IPL 2023 season.
