By Zainab Shafiq 
In a crucial encounter at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on May 9, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians. This loss has dealt a severe blow to RCB’s chances of making it to the playoffs, as they now find themselves languishing in the seventh position on the IPL 2023 points table.
Disappointingly, RCB’s captain, Virat Kohli, failed to make a significant contribution with the bat, managing just a solitary run before being dismissed. The fans had eagerly gathered, hoping to witness Kohli’s magic on the field, but were left dismayed. Despite facing scrutiny over his strike rate and on-field banter, the former RCB skipper took to Twitter to express his determination.
Sharing a picture that appeared to be from an advertisement shoot, Kohli posted a resilient message, stating, “The competition is all in your head. In reality, it’s always you vs. you.” Throughout his career, Kohli has often found himself under the spotlight, and even in this year’s IPL, he made headlines for his refusal to shake hands with Sourav Ganguly and his heated exchanges with Naveen-ul-Haq and Gautam Gambhir.
Experts have also raised concerns about Kohli’s T20 strike rate, suggesting that it is slightly lower compared to the current brand of T20 cricket being played. Responding to these criticisms, the Indian batting maestro emphasized the importance of an anchor role in T20 matches. During a conversation with Robin Uthappa on JioCinema, Kohli acknowledged the significance of anchoring innings, stating, “Yeah for sure (important anchor role). I completely agree with that. There are many people who, because they have not been in that situation themselves, look at the game differently.”
Furthermore, Kohli defended his approach, adding, “Suddenly when the powerplay is done, they will be like ‘Oh, they have started rotating the strike.’ When you haven’t lost a wicket in the powerplay, usually the best player comes on to bowl, and you are trying to figure out what to do against him in the first two overs so that you can get big ones in the last two overs of that guy, and then the rest of the innings become much easier.”
RCB’s defeat against Mumbai Indians has cast a shadow over their playoff aspirations in the IPL 2023 season. With Kohli’s leadership and batting form crucial to their success, RCB will need to regroup and bounce back strongly to revive their chances of making it to the playoffs.