Virat Kohli Black Eye: RCB captain suffer painful blow under right eye during IPL 2021 opening match
The 14th edition of cash-rich Indian Premier League has kicked-off in some style at Chennai yesterday. Even in front of empty stands, the opening match couldn’t have been a better beginning to this extravaganza. Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore beat defending champions Mumbai Indians on the last ball to notch their campaign off to a perfect start in 2021.
Virat Kohli Cops it on the face!
This enthralling encounter was no short of drama as there were many events worth mentioning. RCB could have reduced MI to even low score if they had taken their chances. Even captain Virat Kohli contributed to that as he spilled a relatively straight forward chance from Krunal Pandya in the penultimate over.
When Kyle Jamieson came on to bowl the 19th over, Krunal Pandya drove the first delivery straight down the throat of mid-off. Virat Kohli, who was fielding there, failed to judge it properly and the ball burst through his hands straight on to his eye. Although it was hit hard by the batsman but should have been taken by Virat Kohli’s standards. Instead, he ended up copping a painful blow on his face.
Super Human – AB de Villiers!
Chasing 160 runs to win, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell were involved in a crucial partnership in the middle overs. But both were dismissed in a space of couple of overs and RCB chase again seemed to have lost its steam. But South African superstar AB de Villiers had other ideas. Playing his first competitive game after last year’s IPL play-offs, he dealt with MI bowling on his own with a magnificent 48 from just 27 balls to almost take RCB home. In the end, Harshal Patel ensured the two points against one of the strongest outfits this season.
