It is a mouth-watering prospect for the fans when India’s top batter Virat Kohli faces up to India’s top bowler Mohammed Siraj. However, this occurrence is a rarity as both Kohli and Siraj are teammates at Royal Challengers Bangalore and rarely get the opportunity to go up against each other apart from the RCB net session.
One such practice session was captured on camera by RCB with RCB’s stand-in skipper Virat Kohli facing their top bowler in the IPL 2023 season – Siraj – ahead of their next match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Siraj began by beating Kohli twice, once outside off and the second time leaving his RCB teammate all at sea. Kohli then nodded his head in acknowledgment.
WATCH Virat Kohli bat against RCB teammate Mohammed Siraj HERE…
Virat vs Siraj in the nets was a high intense quality match up! Here's how the duo prepared for this evening's big clash against KKR.#PlayBold #____RCB #IPL2023 #RCBvKKR pic.twitter.com/rBZKpgqB9z
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) April 26, 2023
Kohli then went after Siraj and took him apart. Former India skipper hit some monstrous sixes – including the straight six he famously hit off Haris Rauf against Pakistan at the T20 World Cup 2022 last October. Kohli hammered 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,” Siraj said in the video.
Kohli is the fifth-highest run-getter so far in the IPL 2023, in spite of getting out for a golden duck in the last match against Rajasthan Royals. The RCB stand-in captain has scored 279 runs in 7 matches with four fifties at a strike-rate of 141.62 and an average of 46.5.
Siraj, on the other hand, is the leading wicket-taker for RCB in the IPL 2023 season with 13 wickets in 7 matches so far. He held the IPL 2023 Purple Cap till Tuesday night before Gujarat Titans leg-spinner Rashid Khan took over the top position with 14 wickets. Siraj has maintained an excellent economy rate of 7.17 as well this season.
RCB are up against Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan-owned KKR next and will be aiming for their fifth win of the season on Wednesday night.
