'Chase Master Is Back': Twitter Explodes As Virat Kohli Slams 49-Ball 82 For RCB Against MI In IPL 2023

Virat Kohli was at his best on Sunday night as he along with Faf du Plessis dished out a chasing master-class with a 148-run opening partnership as Royal Challengers Bangalore outplayed Mumbai Indians in their IPL 2023 campaign opener. RCB won the game at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru by 8 wickets. Chasing a target of 172, the side reached home with 22 balls to spare, thanks to Kohli's impactful 82 not out off 49 balls. His innings was laced with 6 fours and 5 sixes.

As the chase master made it a cakewalk for RCB in the second innings of the game, the Twitterati could not keep calm. While the fans lauded him for his knock, some also compared his form to that in the 2016 edition of IPL in which Kohli had scored a record 973 runs.

Check out the reactions here:

The chase master is back at the Chinnaswamy. 50th fifty+ score in IPL for Virat Kohli pic.twitter.com/n5sMbZ5PKZ

Very aggressive, very impressive, very Virat Kohli. #championcricketer #RCBvsMI

This Version of Kohli >>> 2016 pic.twitter.com/gVFIzzVrdr

Yes!!Kohli landed in 2016 again pic.twitter.com/X6pEyTlbyz

Apart from Kohli, RCB skipper Faf du Plesiss was also impressive with his 73 off 43 balls. This happened after Tilak Varma's fighting 84 not out off 46 balls steered Mumbai to 171 for 7 in 20 overs.

"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