'Sachin Tendulkar Used to do That': Irfan Pathan Praises Virat Kohli For Targeting Jofra Archer

Jofra Archer finally made an appearance in the IPL in three years, turning out for Mumbai Indians on Sunday night. But England’s premier fast bowler would now certainly want to forget the outing as soon as possible.

With all eyes fixed on the Virat Kohli-Archer faceoff, the Royal Challengers Bangalore star won the first round.

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17 off Archer’s 24 deliveries were to Kohli off which the former RCB captain scored 28 runs at a strike-rate of 165.

Kohli’s strategy, while taking on the Barbados-born, quite understandably, earned plaudits from the cricket fraternity. Former India allrounder Irfan Pathan also lavished praise on Kohli for successfully dealing with Archer at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium .

“Great players do that. Sachin Tendulkar used to do that. He used to target the big bowlers in the opposition team, whether it was Glenn McGrath or Shane Warne, we have seen that repeatedly. Virat Kohli is also a player of the same stature. So, he says that he will try to do even better when confronted with a challenge," Pathan said on Star Sports.

Pathan felt that Kohli emerged victorious in his faceoff with Archer. The ex-India cricketer even sarcastically suggested that “Archer was turning back as the ball was going beyond the boundary line."

Kohli might have dominated Archer but the story could have very well have turned out quite different.

With Archer bowling his first ball of the encounter in the third over, the English pacer had a golden chance to send Kohli back to the dressing room. But Archer dropped a catch off his own bowling to offer a precious lifeline and Kohli embraced it gleefully.

Kohli, eventually, went on to produce a blistering unbeaten innings of 49-ball 82 as Bangalore scored the winning runs with 22 balls to spare.

Kohli’s innings comprised six boundaries and five sixes.

RCB skipper Faf du Plessis also contributed handsomely with a commendable performance of 43-ball 73.

Earlier, Tilak Varma played a crucial unbeaten knock of 84 to guide Mumbai Indians to 171/7. In their next fixture, RCB will be up against Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday, April 6.

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