Aakash Chopra praised Virat Kohli for his fighting performance in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) IPL 2024 match against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday, March 29. He really admired the opener’s flicked six off Mitchell Starc’s bowling.
Virat Kohli hit an unbeaten 83 from 59 deliveries as RCB set KKR a 183-run goal in Bengaluru. However, his innings was in vain as the visitors knocked down the mark with seven wickets and 19 deliveries remaining.
In a YouTube video, Chopra pondered on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s batting performance in Friday’s game. He was mesmerized by Kohli’s maximum against Starc, stating:
“When Bengaluru got to bat, you expected them to do something big. The way Virat Kohli started, he played a flick shot for a six against Mitchell Starc – so beautiful, so elegant, looking like a wow. He started with a four as well.”
Aakash Chopra
The former India opener mentioned that Faf du Plessis hasn’t produced in his past two innings.
“Faf du Plessis played a decent first innings in Chennai, but after that, the last two innings have not been good. He played an unconventional ‘Supla’ shot and Harshit Rana dismissed him off the next ball. This team stumbled a little after Faf got out.”
Aakash Chopra
Chopra further stated that despite the kindness of the KKR fielders, RCB lost wickets on a frequent basis.
“Virat Kohli was batting very well at one end. Cameron Green also came in the middle and batted well, but then wickets at crucial intervals, whether it was Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) or Cameron Green. Kolkata dropped catches but despite that, they kept getting out in the end.”
Aakash Chopra
Glenn Maxwell had a lucky stay in the middle, being dropped by Ramandeep Singh and Sunil Narine on 11 and 21, respectively. However, he failed to capitalise on his reprieves, holed out to Rinku Singh in the deep off Narine’s bowling for a 19-ball 28.
Aakash Chopra Reflects on Dinesh Karthik’s Impact in World Cup Years with RCB’s Vital Contribution
Aakash Chopra observed that Dinesh Karthik, like Ravichandran Ashwin, has an amazing ability to shine just before a T20 World Cup.
“Dinesh Karthik came in the end and played some good slogs. Something happens to Dinesh Karthik in a World Cup year. He becomes incredible. He and Ravichandran Ashwin do something different in T20 cricket in a World Cup year. Ashwin hit (Anrich) Nortje against Delhi and Karthik hit sixes here and in the last match.”
Aakash Chopra
The cricketer-turned-commentator went on to say that while Virat Kohli performed admirably, RCB’s total fell short.
“The team reached 182, out of which Virat Kohli scored a 59-ball 83 at a strike rate of 140. When you see this innings in isolation, you say well played Virat Kohli, but when you see how far the Bengaluru team was behind in the end, you feel whether less runs were scored. Since wickets were falling at regular intervals, you couldn’t have expected more from Kohli.”
Aakash Chopra
After a fiery start from Sunil Narine and Phil Salt, KKR cruised to victory. The RCB bowlers were found inadequate, with Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal, and Alzarri Joseph getting punished.
