"Apart From MI Winning 5 And CSK 4...": Virat Kohli Issues Strong-Worded Message To Critics

Ecstatic after their emphatic win over five-time champions Mumbai Indians in their IPL opener, Royal Challengers Bangalore's batting mainstay Virat Kohli on Sunday hoped that the team will keep the focus and execute things properly to maintain the momentum. Kohli (82 not out off 49 balls) and skipper Faf du Plessis (73 off 43 balls) struck fiery fifties to fire RCB to an eight-wicket win over Mumbai Indians on Sunday. "Phenomenal win. Homecoming after so many years. Credit to their batters for getting to that score. Tilak (Varma) batted well. We kept backing ourselves. Faf went first, and I joined later. I am very happy with how things went today," said Kohli after the match.

"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 try to be the best balanced team. We need to play on this momentum. We just need to execute better." Mohammed Siraj set the tone with figures of 3-0-5-1 after three overs to leave MI at 20 for three in 5.2 overs.

"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," Kohli said.

Karn Sharma produced a good spell, picking up two wickets from his four overs.

"He (Karn) was phenomenal, when he got that left-hander out, that 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. The first game of the IPL, and to perform like that was great." RCB captain and player of the match Faf Du Plessis