"Harshal has to pick up wickets" - Aakash Chopra says RCB pacer will be under greater pressure in Reece Topley's potential absence

Aakash Chopra feels Harshal Patel needs to be among the wickets in the Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) IPL 2023 clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

The two sides will lock horns at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday, April 6. Harshal registered figures of 1/43 in the Bengaluru-based franchise's home win against the Mumbai Indians (MI) and will want to give a better account of himself in the away game against KKR.

While previewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that RCB are likely to field David Willey for the injured Reece Topley, elaborating:

"If I talk about the bowling, David Willey's chances of coming in become extremely bright because if Reece Topley is not there, you will have to get someone to bowl. He is okay, doesn't bowl at the death, so Siraj and Harshal at the death."

The former Indian opener added:

"Siraj's one over was not ending at all. He bowled 11 balls in that over. He was outstanding with the new ball. Harshal has to pick up wickets, he has gone slightly down, and there will be greater pressure on Harshal if Reece Topley is not there."

Chopra added that while Akash Deep was decent with the ball against MI, Karn Sharma bowled an incredibly good spell in Wanindu Hasaranga's absence. The former KKR player expects Michael Bracewell to be used more with the ball on Thursday, considering the plethora of left-handers in KKR's batting lineup.

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"Virat Kohli was absolutely sensational" - Aakash Chopra on RCB's positives in the batting department ahead of KKR clash

Virat Kohli's unbeaten half-century helped RCB register an easy win against MI. [P/C: iplt20.com]

In the batting department, Aakash Chopra picked Virat Kohli's excellent form as one of the positives for RCB, stating:

"Kohli's last innings was absolutely amazing and fantastic. Virat Kohli was absolutely sensational. We again saw glimpses - the six months before the 2016 season and the six months before the 2023 season almost mirror each other. He has also started very strongly - 82* in a run chase, he has done it multiple times now."

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Faf du Plessis' blazing knock would have also put to rest some of the question marks surrounding RCB's batting, explaining:

"The good thing was that you expect runs from Virat, but Faf du Plessis - he looked very good. He was the one who took the attack to the opposition. Suddenly the team is looking better even though they are feeling Rajat Patidar's absence and are unsure about Glenn Maxwell's form. I feel the batting order is also fine."

While Kohli scored an unbeaten 82 off 49 balls against MI, the RCB skipper smashed 73 runs off 43 balls. The duo added 148 runs for the first wicket in less than 15 overs to make a 172-run chase look like a walk in the park.