Du Plessis shines on IPL captaincy debut but Bangalore lose
Faf du Plessis smashed 88 on his Indian Premier League debut as captain but his side Royal Challengers Bangalore went down to Punjab Kings in a high-scoring match on Sunday.
Players.bio is a large online platform sharing the best live coverage of your favourite sports: Football, Golf, Rugby, Cricket, F1, Boxing, NFL, NBA, plus the latest sports news, transfers & scores. Exclusive interviews, fresh photos and videos, breaking news. Stay tuned to know everything you wish about your favorite stars 24/7. Check our daily updates and make sure you don't miss anything about celebrities' lives.

Faf du Plessis smashed 88 on his Indian Premier League debut as captain but his side Royal Challengers Bangalore went down to Punjab Kings in a high-scoring match on Sunday.
A fine knock from new captain Faf du Plessis was not enough to prevent Royal Challengers Bangalore falling to a high-scoring five-wicket defeat in their opening Indian Premier League game on Sunday.
Newly-appointed skipper Faf du Plessis' scintillating 57-ball 88 went in vain as Punjab Kings produced a solid batting display to script a successful chase for a five-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in a thrilling IPL match here on Sunday. While Du Plessis showed his six-hitting prowess, hammering seven maximums in his whirlwind knock, Virat Kohli also chipped in with an unbeaten 41 off 29 balls and Dinesh Karthik made a quick fire 32 not out as RCB posted a massive 205 for 2 after being invited to bat.
Newly-appointed Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis pummeled the Punjab Kings attack to submission as his 88 steered his team to 205 for 2 in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 game on Sunday. While Du Plessis showed his six-hitting prowess, hammering seven maximums in his 57-ball knock, Virat Kohli, who had stepped down as skipper, also chipped in with an unbeaten 41 off 29 balls. Wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik joined the party late in the innings with a quickfire 32 not out off just 14 balls.
With Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 having finally begun, fans have been treated to some exciting entertaining cricket since March 26. The ongoing season will also see plenty of unknown stars hogging the spotlight and Virat Kohli decided to share his picks for Royal Challengers Bangalore's breakthrough stars for this year. Speaking via the franchise's social media handle, Kohli selected two players and also labeled one of them as a "breakthrough season potential".
Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore have a lot in common. A penchant for inconsistency and a fragile middle-order leading to constant chopping and changing of the playing XI sum up their failure to clinch the IPL title till now. Having retained only a couple of players from the previous season, Punjab made their intentions clear at the auction table in February and went all out with the mantra of an ‘aggressive approach’. Desperate to shed the tag of perennial underperformers, the franchise for now can boast of having plugged the gaps in the run-up to the tournament.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) face Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in match 3 of the IPL 2022 season at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Both franchises have been perennial underachievers over the years and are yet to win a IPL trophy. However, both teams splashed cash during the IPL auction and will look to break the hoodoo this season. PBKS will be led by Mayank Agarwal this season while Faf du Plessis will captain RCB after Virat Kohli had decided to step down last season. Both teams look good on paper this season, but will miss some of their overseas star for this game due to international commitments.
With the change in leadership at Royal Challengers Bangalore, the IPL might get to see the Virat Kohli from the 2016 season when he amassed over 900 runs, reckons former India captain Sunil Gavaskar. The spotlight , though, will remain on Kohli when he takes to the field only as a player in RCB's IPL-15 opener against Punjab Kings at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai Stadium on Sunday. Speaking during a Gameplan episode on Star Sports, the official broadcaster of the IPL, Gavaskar said, "At the moment, we do not know whether Kohli will be captain again. Sometimes when a player is relieved of the burden of captaincy, he flourishes as he is not thinking about 10 other players.