"It was a proper setup" - Harbhajan Singh on Virat Kohli's dismissal in RCB's IPL 2023 win vs LSG

Harbhajan Singh has lauded Ravi Bishnoi for dismissing Virat Kohli with a perfect setup in the Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) IPL 2023 clash against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

Kohli scored a 30-ball 31 as RCB set a 127-run target for LSG after opting to bat first in Lucknow on Monday, May 1. Their bowlers then bundled out KL Rahul and Co. for 108 to help their side win the match by 18 runs and join four other teams with 10 points in the IPL 2023 points table.

During a post-match discussion on Star Sports, Harbhajan was asked about his thoughts on Ravi Bishnoi's dismissal of Virat Kohli, to which he responded:

"He (Bishnoi) wasn't giving him (Kohli) any chance to free his arms. He was bowling on the body, kept the ball close to him and then there was a slight telegram when he stepped out early. He bowled the ball away from the stumps because of which Virat got stumped. It was a proper setup."

The former Indian off-spinner feels the LSG leg-spinner's maturity belies his age, elaborating:

"You have to plan how to get a batter out. You normally bring the ball in repeatedly and then take it away or vice versa. So it was an excellent plan from Bishnoi. He is much bigger in stature than his age."

Bishnoi finished with figures of 2/21 in his four-over spell. Apart from getting rid of Kohli, the youngster trapped Glenn Maxwell in front of the wickets as the batter tried to play a reverse sweep.

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"I was extremely surprised" - Imran Tahir on Virat Kohli's dismissal

Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli strung together a 62-run opening-wicket partnership. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Imran Tahir was asked about his overall impression of Virat Kohli's knock, to which he replied:

"The ball was spinning here and Virat plays spin very well. I was extremely surprised that I saw him getting stumped after a long time. The approach was very good. Both (Kohli and Faf du Plessis) had planned and that plan came in handy."

The former South African spinner added that RCB won the game primarily because of Kohli and Faf du Plessis' sensible partnership, explaining:

"If they had lost one or two wickets in the powerplay, Maxwell would have come and he would have been under pressure. If he had gotten out early, I don't think they would have reached 126 as well. So both of them played very sensibly and I feel their powerplay game was the main reason for them winning the match."

Du Plessis top-scored for the Royal Challengers Bangalore with a 40-ball 44. Barring their two openers, Dinesh Karthik (16) was the only other RCB player to reach the double-digit mark.