“Kohli at 3 is looking beautiful” - Aakash Chopra pleased with former RCB skipper’s batting form ahead of KKR clash

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra was highly impressed with the positive manner in which Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Virat Kohli performed against the Punjab Kings (PBKS). He urged the former Bangalore skipper to continue batting in the same vein.

Kohli scored an unbeaten 41 off 29 against Punjab in RCB’s opening IPL 2022 encounter as they posted 205 for two while batting first. However, PBKS chased down the target with five wickets in hand.

According to the IPL 2022 schedule, Bangalore’s next encounter will be against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Wednesday. Previewing the clash on his YouTube channel, Chopra said about Kohli’s form:

“Kohli at 3 is looking beautiful. It was more like the vintage Kohli. Loved the way he was batting. He wasn’t the hero but it was a really impressive batting performance from him.”

The 44-year-old added that although RCB lost the match, they can take plenty of positives from the batting going into the match against KKR. Chopra elaborated:

“If we look closely at Bangalore’s team combination, the last match was good for them. Anuj Rawat impressed at the top. Faf du Plessis started slowly but picked up speed as his innings progressed. Dinesh Karthik played a cameo but it was a destructive knock and a highly effective innings. It was a memorable performance for sure.”

Bangalore bowlers Mohammed Siraj (2/59), Wanindu Hasaranga (1/40) and Akash Deep (1/38) proved expensive as PBKS chased down 206 with an over to spare.

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“KKR must explore their sixth bowling option against RCB” - Aakash Chopra

Shifting focus to the Kolkata franchise, Chopra suggested that they must look to explore their sixth bowling option. Pat Cummins will be unavailable for KKR for the initial games as Cricket Australia (CA) has granted NOC to its players to take part in the IPL from April 6.

Analyzing Kolkata’s part-time bowling options, Chopra said:

“KKR must explore their sixth bowling option against RCB in (Nitish) Rana, Shreyas (Iyer) and Venkatesh (Iyer). They might have to make up for being slightly light in the pace bowling department.”

Predicting Kolkata to put it across Bangalore on Wednesday, the former cricketer concluded:

“I feel Narine and Varun will stifle their opponents. It is a big ground (DY Patil Stadium). If KKR get Faf and Kohli early, they can throttle RCB because Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) is not there yet. I think something like this could happen.”

Kolkata defeated Bangalore by four wickets when the two sides met in the IPL Eliminator last season in Sharjah.