Royal Challengers Bangalore marked their homecoming to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru after a gap of 4 years with a thumping eight-wicket victory over five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians to get their IPL 2023 campaign off to a flying start on Sunday (April 2). Former captain Virat Kohli and current skipper Faf du Plessis put on a massive 148-run opening stand to ease the home-side to a comfortable win with almost 4 overs to spare.

While Du Plessis made 73 off 43 balls, including five fours and six sixes, Kohli was in sublime touch to remain unbeaten on 82 off 49 balls, laced with six fours and five sixes to chase 172 in 16.2 overs. After the match ended, Kohli told the broadcasters that he and Du Plessis were aiming to hit their shots in good areas and keep the pressure on the bowlers.

“Phenomenal win. Homecoming after so many years. We kept backing ourselves. Faf went first, and I joined later. I am very happy with how things went today,” the former RCB captain said.

“The new ball was a bit tricky, but we shifted the momentum by taking them down with the new ball. We nullified all their intensity. The wicket was quite a nice one. We hit good areas and kept putting pressure on the bowlers,” he added.

The star batter was also in praise of leg-spinner Karn Sharma, who picked two wickets in the match. “He was phenomenal, when he got that left-hander out. it was great bowling. He was bowling so well last year. He was ready to play. Even in the nets, he was not getting hit for sixes. He put us on the front foot right away,” he said.

Asked about the support from a jam-packed home stadium, Kohli said, “Phenomenal, was a packed crowd. Every seat was full and we knew we would get a lot of support. We just ride off that intensity from the crowd. They were right behind us. The first game of the IPL, and to perform like that was great. Credit to their batters for getting to that score. Tilak (Varma) batted well.”

For his well-executed innings of 73(43) and leading from the front, @faf1307 is the the Player of the Match _ @RCBTweets begin their season in style and with a win against #MI __#TATAIPL | #RCBvMI pic.twitter.com/XTifvXArBk
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 2, 2023

Kohli signed off by saying RCB need to build on the momentum from the opening victory for the rest of the tournament. “Apart from Mumbai winning five times and Chennai four times, we have qualified the most number of times, so we do play consistent cricket. It`s just about staying focused, and just trying to be the best balanced team. We need to play on this momentum. We just need to execute better,” he said.

RCB skipper Faf du Plessis was adjudged the ‘Player of the Match’. “It was a nice way to start the way we did in the powerplay. Siraj with his tail up is a beautiful thing. The bowler stuck to their task The last two or three overs, was a bit of learning. The cutters were working really well, it was not easy to hit the ball. There was value for your shots. Credit to the groundsman. Even the spinners found something,” Du Plessis said.

(With IANS inputs)