It was a pleasant surprise for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fans as Virat Kohli, who led the franchise from 2013 to 2021, will return as captain once again in Match 27 of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) vs hosts Punjab Kings. I returned Kohli became the skipper as Faf du Plessis was now allowed to field in the Mohali game by the team physio as he suffered a rib injury while batting in the previous match against Delhi Capitals. However, Faf still featured only as a batsman in the game. In the second innings, he will be replaced by an impact player. Rohit Sharma of Mumbai Indians is the first captain of the league to play as an impact player.
Faf du Plessis as an impact player
Kohli confirmed at the toss that Faf would play as an impact player as he would be unable to field. He said that apart from the ouster of Faf, there was no other change in the team. “Faf likely can’t field today so he will play as an impact player, switch with Vaishak. We have to do what we wanted, we would have batted first, pitch could have been slow, some raucous The marks will help.” Bowlers are going deep into the game. Take it one game at a time, focus on your game, make the most of crunch situations, we haven’t done that so far in the tournament. No other changes for us,” said Kohli.
Faf is still fit to bat and ready to go! ,#playbold #____rcb #IPL2023 #PBKSvRCB @faf1307 pic.twitter.com/p0gkEve1Kp— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) April 20, 2023
Dhawan not in Punjab playing 11
It was a matter of missing both the regular captains in the PBKS vs RCB clash in IPL 2023 as Shikhar Dhawan was also ruled out due to a shoulder injury. Sam Curran again took over the captaincy duties in the absence of Dhawan, who failed the match-fitness test on the eve of the all-important home clash vs Royal Challengers Bangalore. After winning the toss, Curran chose to bowl first and helped his team chase down the target. PBKS also made a big decision to drop Kagiso Rabada in favor of Australian fast bowler Nathan Ellis. Informed about Dhawan’s injury, Curran said, “Shikhar is getting closer but today he will be missed. He is a quality player but youngsters will do a lot. Got to shape up, Livingstone is back and our Alice is back at Keige’s place.”