‘Sachin Tendulkar used to do that’ – Irfan Pathan’s take as Virat Kohli takes on Jofra Archer during Bangalore vs Mumbai match

The Bangalore franchise has started its 2023 Indian T20 League 2023 campaign with a convincing victory over the Mumbai franchise by 8 wickets at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium. Batting first, Mumbai posted a total of 171 runs for the loss of 8 wickets, powered by the 84-run knock by the young batter Tilak Verma. In reply, Bangalore chased the winning total in 16.2 overs as the skipper Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli gave a firing start by adding 148 runs for the first wicket.

Du Plessis got out after smashing 73 off 43, while Kohli remained unbeaten on 82 off 49 as Bangalore made 172 runs for the loss of 2 wickets with 22 balls to spare. The main highlight of the match was the battle between Kohli and Jofra Archer. The fans were excited to see the face-off between the two cricketers, and Kohli had the upper hand against Archer as he scored 28 runs off the 17 balls he faced against the English bowler, by smashing two fours and two sixes.

‘Virat Kohli won that contest this time’ – Irfan Pathan

Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan heaped Kohli for his aggressive batting against Archer in yesterday’s match. He also took an example of the Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, who used to target big bowlers of the opposition team.

“Great players do that. Sachin Tendulkar used to do that. He used to target the big bowlers in the opposition team, whether it was Glenn McGrath or Shane Warne, we have seen that repeatedly. Virat Kohli is also a player of the same stature. So he says that he will try to do even better when confronted with a challenge,” said Irfan during a post-match discussion on Star Sports.

“I was personally excited to watch the face-off between Jofra Archer and Virat Kohli. Virat Kohli won that contest this time. There was a chance on the first ball but after that, he didn’t look behind. Only Jofra Archer was turning back as the ball was going beyond the boundary line,” the former cricketer further added.