Virat Kohli's dream of winning the trophy will come true: Manjrekar's MASSIVE claim ahead of IPL 2023

Virat Kohliis the only player in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to play for the same team -- i.e. the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) -- in all seasons so far starting from 2008, when the cash-rich league came into the picture. He is also one of the few big players to have not won the IPL so far. However, former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar feels IPL 2023 could be the season where Kohli's trophy-drought might get over.

Ahead of the IPL 2023 opener, where the defending champions Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans (GT) will take on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Ahmedabad on Friday (March 31), Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo, "Yes, I feel Virat Kohli's dream of winning the trophy will come true this time. They have a wonderful bowling attack. If Faf du Plessis scores runs, they will have a great chance."

Kohli has scored most runs in the IPL (6,624) in 223 matches at a strike rate of129.14 along with five hundreds and 44 half-centuries. The 34-year-old had a dismal run in IPL 2022 where he only managed341 runs in 16 games at an average of 22.73 and a below-par strike rate of 115.99. Last year, the Faf du Plessis-led RCB franchise reached the playoffs and won the Eliminator, versus the KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), before they bowed out with a loss to the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Qualifier 2.

Thus, Kohli will be desperate to get going with the bat this time around and guide his side to their maiden title. They have a strong squad at their disposal comprising the likes of Du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, Kohli, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Rajat Patidar, Md Siraj, David Willey, Reece Topley, Michael Bracewell, etc.

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RCB Complete Squad for IPL 2023

Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Siraj, Faf Du Plessis (c), Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahemad, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Karn Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, David Willey, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav, Micheal Bracewell