"I have really been quite intentional about trying to get hundreds" - Faf du Plessis 

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Faf du Plessis has declared his intentions to score a century in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 ahead of their game against Mumbai Indians.

Du Plessis has been in sublime form for his team. He is currently RCB's leading the run-scorer and the only player to accumulate more than 500 runs in the tournament so far.

The RCB opener has scored 511 runs in 10 innings at an average of 56.78 and a strike rate of 157.72 with the help of five fifty-plus scores.

Du Plessis has five hundreds in the game's shortest format to his name, including one in T20 Internationals. However, he is yet to register a three-figure score in the IPL.

The South African batter's best score in the tournament is 96, which came against the Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in 2019. Speaking about his urge to score a century in IPL, Faf du Plessis told RCB:

"I have really been quite intentional about trying to get hundreds. Finding gears I can work through that mid innings period and try to get an innings as we can get 75 plus."

He added:

"In the past, I always felt like I had a decent attacking game but I felt like there was another gear in terms of taking your strike rate from 130 to 150. At least sometimes 160 to 170 so I have worked on that a lot."

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RCB to face MI in qualification race for IPL 2023 playoffs

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has landed in Mumbai to face five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday, May 9.

Both teams are locked at 10 points after playing 10 league matches, winning five and suffering as many defeats. The upcoming MI vs RCB clash will serve as an opportunity for the two decorated sides to enter the top four in the table.

MI lost to Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in Chepauk on Saturday and later, on the same day, Delhi Capitals thumped RCB in a seven-wicket triumph at Feroz Shah Kotla.