‘I quite like match-up to Virat’ - Steve Smith reflects on upcoming battle between Mitchell Starc and Virat Kohli

The fever of the IPL (Indian Premier League) 2024 continues as Royal Challengers Bengaluru take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the 10th game of the tournament. Both sides will take centre stage at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 29.

As the game approaches, many fans have been awaiting the on-field battle between Kolkata Knight Riders’ newest signing, Mitchell Starc, and Royal Challengers Bengluru’s Virat Kohli. 

The same battle intrigued veteran Australian batter Steve Smith, who came forward to talk about how excited he was to see Starc face off against Kohli.

"I quite like [Starc's] match-up to Virat, the ability to swing the ball back down the line as a lefty. We have seen him [Kohli] get out on a few occasions to Shaheen Afridi, Trent Boult, and Mohammad Amir. In the first game against Punjab Kings, Kohli had an opportunity off Sam Curran dropped at slip. So I quite like the left-handed match-up,” Steve Smith told ESPNcricinfo’s Timeout. 

It's going to be a good game: Smith

Furthermore, Smith talked about how interesting the match-up between Kohli and Starc could be in match 10. It is worth noting that Starc and Kohli have not played against each other in the IPL. Starc is also yet to dismiss Kohli in T20 cricket, whereas Kohli has scored 47 runs off 28 balls against the Australian pacer.

"Starcy's going to swing the ball back down the line early on, I'd imagine, and then use the wobble seam to go across him [Kohli], and potentially try and nick him off. It's going to be a good game, and I'm aware Virat would know how Starc's trying to attack him as well - whether he tries to potentially come down the track [to] just take the swing out of play [we'll see]. It's going to be interesting to see how he counters it,” Smith said.

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