Cricketer-turned-commentator on Monday (28th March) said that Virat Kohli looked like the vintage version of himself in an IPL 2022 encounter against Punjab Kings in Mumbai.
RCB didn’t have a kind of a start they would’ve wanted for their IPL 15 campaign. But there were a lot of positives for them with the biggest being the form of Virat Kohli.
Kohli looked in fine touch and hit an unbeaten 29-ball 41 runs that helped RCB post a mammoth total of 205 runs, which PBKS chased in 19 overs. Batting at No.3 the right-hander took the pressure off the skipper Faf du Plessis, who had initially struggled to find his timing.
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The 33-year-old targeted Harpreet Brar and smashed him for two sixes and boundaries. But once Du Plessis found his mojo back, he played as a second fiddle to him and also supported Dinesh Karthik, who finished the innings on high.
Speaking to Star Sports, Aakash Chopra said that Virat Kohli looked like an old vintage version of him against PBKS. He explained how he took on Harpreet Brar, who troubled him last season and then took a backseat.
"He looked good. This was like that old vintage Virat Kohli. He started with a bang and that's what he can do whenever he wants. He took on Brar. The last time he had issues, he was dismissed. He hit him for a six. He hit the boundaries and then took a backseat," Aakash Chopra said.
Defending Kohli, Chopra said he didn't bat slow but restrained himself to a supporting role for Faf du Plessis.
"Not that he was not scoring quickly enough. It's just that he realised that he had to play the supporting role to Faf du Plessis. He understood that 'I may have been the hero in many a movie, but right now I have to play the role of a hero's brother.
"He let Faf du Plessis take centre stage but he was right till the end, he scored at close to 150. He was scoring at a fair clip but wasn't really greedy to get onto the strike as quickly as possible," he said.
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Aakash Chopra further said that he’s delighted to see this Kohli after witnessing a different version of him for the last six months.
He added that Kohli reuniting with head coach Sanjay Bangar, who served as Indian batting coach till 2019, is working in his favour and there’s ‘some chemistry’ between the duo which brings the best out of the former RCB skipper.
"I am delighted to see this Virat Kohli because, for the last six months, we have seen a different sort of Virat Kohli. He was in one mood - to defend everything. There was a process that he followed all this while and he is back to that now. There is something about Sanjay Bangar and Virat Kohli. There is some chemistry there that brings the best out of Kohli,” he said.
RCB will next face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the DY Patil Stadium on Wednesday (30th March).
(Star Sports inputs)
