IPL 2023: Best XI from first week

3. Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is one of those players who have made heads turn every time he has stepped into the cricket field. The 34-year-old has obliterated bowling attacks with his marauding bat and piled on runs for fun. Be it in the international arena or Indian Premier League; he has established his supremacy on the cricket field.

Kohli has featured in 225 IPL games and racked up an insane tally of 6727 runs at a strike rate of 129.46. He was simply sensational in the first week of the 2023 season of the cash-rich league. The Indian batter made two appearances for Royal Challengers Bangalore and aggregated 103 runs at a stunning strike rate of 153.73.

When Bangalore faced Mumbai Indians in the 5th match of the T20 carnival, Kohli was in his element and played a majestic knock of 82* runs off 49 deliveries, which consisted of six fours and five maximums. The veteran batter is critical to RCB’s chances in the 16th IPL edition, and the team management would hope he plays in the same vein in the matches to come.