IPL 2021: MI vs RCB: Virat Kohli says AB de Villiers make opposition nervous

Chennai, April 10: Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli said AB de Villiers remains an intimidating force after all these years. The South African batting maestro made a 48 off 27 balls to carry RCB past Mumbai Indians in the opening match of IPL 2021 here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday (April 9).

Harshal Patel took five wickets as RCB restricted MI to 159 in 20 overs and then hunted down the target off the last ball of the match to register a two-wicket win.

"The opposition gets nervous about AB. We have depth in the batting which we want to utilize. AB is probably the only one in the team who is so versatile. And he does it on slow wickets what not many can do," Kohli said in the post-match press conference.

Kohli was all praise for Harshal Patel's match-winning bowling performance, terming him their designated death bowler in this edition of the IPL 2021.

Harshal's 5 for 27 was the reason RCB were able to restrict MI to 159 for nine in the IPL opener, which is something that even losing captain Rohit Shama admitted.

"We brought Harshal in a trade from Delhi. He is relishing the responsibility and is clear with his plans. He was the difference today. He is going to be our death bowler. As a captain you want players with clarity, and he has that," Kohli said at the post-match press conference.

MI captain Rohit wouldn't mind losing another opening game as long as his team goes on to win the tournament, but admitted that they were 20 runs short.

"Winning the championship is important, I guess, not the first game. It was a great fight and we didn't let it go easily. Although the score wasn't something we were happy with. We were 20 short," Rohit said after his team's ninth opening round loss.