'Bade dino baad khushi ka din aaya' - Fans react as Virat Kohli captains RCB for their clash against PBKS in IPL 2023

Virat Kohli (Source: Twitter)

In a new twist in the cash-rich league, Virat Kohli is captaining Royal Challengers Bangalore in their IPL 2023 encounter against Punjab Kings in Mohali. It was a wonderful sight to see Kohli lead the RCB at the toss two years after stepping down as captain.

The move could be related to the fact that Faf du Plessis had rib injury concerns during the previous game and batted on despite having the region wrapped up. The South African hasn't fully recovered, thus while Du Plessis batted first for RCB, he will be replaced by an Impact Player, as stated by Kohli.

A similar strategy was taken recently in the Mumbai Indians vs. Kolkata Knight Riders match, where Suryakumar Yadav led MI and Rohit Sharma later came to bat as their Impact Player in the second innings.

"Faf potentially can't be fielding today, so he'll be playing as a impact player, switching with Vyshak. We got to do what we wanted, we would have batted first, the pitch could get slow, some scruff marks will help the bowlers going deep into the game. Taking one game at a time, focussing on our own game, make the most of crunch situations, we haven't done that so far in the tournament. No other changes for us," Kohli said at the toss.

Meanwhile, despite the fact that Shikhar Dhawan has not been included in their starting XI, the fact that he is not on PBKS' Impact Player list indicates that he is absolutely out of this content. Dhawan's absence is a significant loss for the Kings, as he has been in good form with 233 runs and is presently fourth on the Orange Cap list.