"Quite like the left-handed match-up" - Steven Smith looking forward to Virat Kohli facing Mitchell Starc in RCB vs KKR IPL 2024 clash

Australian batting star Steven Smith said he is keenly looking forward to the match-up between Virat Kohli and Mitchell Starc when the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) face the Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday. The 34-year-old believes Starc will look to bring in that textbook inswinger into play.

Both Starc and Kohli haven't played against one another in IPL. However, the left-arm speedster is yet to dismiss the Indian batting legend in T20s and the latter has scored 47 runs off 28 deliveries in the format.

Speaking on ESPNCricinfo's Timeout, Smith observed that Kohli has slightly struggled against left-arm seamers. He said:

"I quite like [Starc's] match-up to Virat, the ability to swing the ball back down the line as a lefty. We have seen him [Kohli] get out on a few occasions to Shaheen Afridi, Trent Boult, Mohammad Amir. In the first game against Punjab Kings, Kohli had an opportunity off Sam Curran dropped at slip. So I quite like the left-handed match-up."

Mitchell Starc had previously plied his trade for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and has returned to IPL for the first time since 2014. Nevertheless, the 34-year-old had a forgettable outing against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), finishing with figures of 4-0-53-0.

"I'm aware Virat would know how Starc's trying to attack him as well" - Steven Smith

Smith underlined that he also expects the wobble seam to come into play from Mitchell Starc and reckons it will brew as an interesting contest.

The New South Wales cricketer added:

"Starcy's going to swing the ball back down the line early on, I'd imagine, and then use the wobble seam to go across him [Kohli], and potentially try and nick him off. It's going to be a good game, and I'm aware Virat would know how Starc's trying to attack him as well - whether he tries to potentially come down the track [to] just take the swing out of play [we'll see]. It's going to be interesting to see how he counters it."

The Royal Challengers lost the tournament opener to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Chepauk, but bounced back to beat the Punjab Kings in their first home fixture.