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Continuing his impressive form, Virat played a pivotal role with a 59-ball knock, guiding RCB to a total of 182 for 6 on a pitch that offered varying conditions but eased up for batting as the game progressed.
KKR’s Sunil Narine, in his 500th Twenty20 appearance, alongside Phil Salt, provided a blazing start, amassing 85 runs within the powerplay. With KKR comfortably chasing down the target with 3.1 overs to spare, they secured a convincing victory.
After RCB’s defeat, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra took a dig at Virat Kohli and his strike rate.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Aakash explained how Narine and Salt’s dominance in Powerplay overshadowed Virat’s stellar knock.
“When Sunil Narine opens, the template is absolutely clear – ‘Either I or you will not remain’. He plays in that fashion, tries to hit sixes. Everyone knows that you need to repeatedly bowl bouncers and yorkers, but if you don’t get success in that, just like Bengaluru didn’t get in the first six overs, he takes the match far away from your grasp,” Chopra said.
“Phil Salt was also there with him. Phil Salt hit 18 runs in the first over itself. He was brilliant. Just to put things in context, the opposing team bowled well but Kohli played 59 balls to reach 83 and Kolkata had already scored 85 in 5.5 overs. Whether it was Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Siraj, or Yash Dayal, everyone was hit a lot,” he said.
Chopra, who played 10 Tests for India, also lauded KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir.
“I feel Gautam has given them a lot of confidence. Sunil Narine opening has Gautam Gambhir’s imprint. Andre Russell bowling at the death also has a little imprint of Gautam Gambhir. He is empowering them slightly and the same can be said about Venkatesh Iyer. He has been empowered to hit fours and sixes,” Chopra said.
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