M Kaif believes Gautam Gambhir, mentor of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), is likely to target Virat Kohli with spin in the upcoming IPL 2023 contest between LSG and RCB on Monday, April 10. During a review of the Thursday, April 6 game between RCB and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Star Sports, M Kaif highlighted Kohli’s struggles against spin, saying:
“What has happened to Virat Kohli against spin? He is getting out to spin in Test matches and ODIs, and here also he got out to spin. It has become a concern and Gautam Gambhir would have been watching this match. The next match is against Lucknow.”
“It is absolutely clear that he is unable to pick the ball in the air. The attempt was to play on the leg side and there was a huge gap between the bat and pad. The ball was not even close to the bat. He closed the face of the bat. The ball was pitched outside the off stump. That’s his weakness as well.”
After Kohli and Faf du Plessis had put on a 44-run opening stand, the former Indian captain was the first to be dismissed. This caused a bit of a collapse as RCB’s next four wickets fell for just 17 runs.
“The bowling was good but this match will hurt”: M Kaif
M Kaif highlighted that the Royal Challengers Bangalore batters’ lack of presenting a full face of the bat as they struck the ball ultimately led to their defeat, noting:
““Faf du Plessis also tried to play from outside the off-stump. Playing straight would have been better planning as Shardul Thakur did in this match. All the batters got bowled. The ball pitched and came in. The bowling was good but this match will hurt.”
“It was a nightmare. RCB would say that it was good they lost such a match at the start but that does not happen. This is a massive defeat. This would have been like a dagger to the heart.”
The Royal Challengers Bangalore have dropped to the seventh spot on the IPL 2023 table after their defeat on Thursday.