"This year's Faf du Plessis is in a different league altogether" - Aakash Chopra picks RCB skipper as his MVP for IPL 2023 win vs LSG
Aakash Chopra has picked Faf du Plessis as his most valuable player (MVP) in the Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) IPL 2023 win against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Du Plessis scored 44 runs off 40 balls as RCB set a 127-run target for LSG after opting to bat first in Lucknow on Monday, May 1. Their bowlers then bowled out the home team for 108 to help the visitors win the game by 18 runs and climb into fifth spot in the points table.
While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra chose Du Plessis as the star performer, reasoning:
"Who was the most valuable player? The bowlers do well in any case when it is a low-scoring match. Naveen-ul-Haq was absolutely outstanding. He picked up three wickets. Ravi Bishnoi and Amit Mishra also picked up two wickets apiece. The rest of the spinners also picked up wickets."
The former Indian opener added:
"Karn Sharma and Josh Hazlewood were also there from RCB. So overall the bowlers were on top. So my most valuable player is Faf du Plessis. This year's Faf du Plessis is in a different league altogether - a league of his own."
Du Plessis hit just one four and a six during his 44-run knock. He strung together a 62-run opening-wicket partnership in nine overs with Virat Kohli (31 off 30) which proved to be the difference in the end.
"A South African shouldn't have scored runs on this pitch" - Aakash Chopra lauds Faf du Plessis' knock
![Faf du Plessis was dismissed only in the 17th over of RCB's innings. [P/C: iplt20.com]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2023/05/56bf3-16829978555033-1920.jpg?w=500)
Aakash Chopra praised Faf du Plessis for delivering the goods on an alien track, explaining:
"A South African shouldn't have scored runs on this pitch because even the Indians were struggling on a typical Indian pitch. The way he batted on such a pitch and for how long he batted, you are fantabulous Du Plessis. The Orange Cap is back on his head."
The cricketer-turned-commentator concluded by opining that the RCB skipper will win the Orange Cap if he plays the entire season, elaborating:
"Yashasvi Jaiswal had taken it and he has taken it back immediately in the next match. Whether it is Ee Sala Cup Namde or not, I feel the Orange Cap will remain on your head because if this guy remains fit throughout the season, he was even batting with injury, no one will be able to snatch the Orange Cap from him."
Du Plessis has amassed 466 runs in nine innings at an excellent average of 58.25 and an equally impressive strike rate of 159.58. He has struck five fifties in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League, with 84 being his best effort.