Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli is pumped up for the 2021 Indian Premier League opener against defending champions Mumbai Indians this season and expects it to be a “highly skilled intense game”. Ahead of the first match of the tournament, Kohli said that he “can’t think of a more exciting” way to begin the IPL.
The 14 edition of the IPL will begin on Friday with the Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians taking on Kohli’s men at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The RCB captain added that his side will focus on their skills and strength as five-time champion Mumbai are the team to beat.
“I truly believe that we have to focus on our skills and our strengths as a side. Mumbai, obviously, is a champion team they know how to win this competition, we know the strength of their team so if focus too much on that then we are not gonna focus on what we can do. At the end of the day, you are playing cricket which is played on the day in the moment and you could be better than any other guy in the world at that moment,” Kohli said in a video posted by the franchise on Twitter.
“Coming up against Mumbai is always an exciting challenge. Last year, we had two exciting games and we won one and they won the second one which was obviously close and they came through because they have such a strong team. The first one was a cliff-hanger as well big scores and Super Over. We expect a great game to start off the IPL. I can’t think of a more exciting or highly skilled intense game to start off the IPL,” he added.
Star batsman AB de Villiers, too, said he was looking forward to what RCB players can come up with against the defending champions.
“We all are very excited and Mumbai Indians are fantastic. We know we are up against experienced players in the line-up so do we. I’m very excited to see what we made off. We got some new faces this year, good experience with them. Daniel Christian, Maxwell coming into the set-up Dan Sams, Kane Richardson. I can name all the guys. I know it is a tough game first up but I think it is going to be tough for Mumbai as well,” de Villiers said.