"This was the best of Virat that we have seen" - Aakash Chopra lauds Virat Kohli's century in RCB's IPL 2023 win vs SRH

Aakash Chopra has highlighted that Virat Kohli was at his vintage best while smashing a century in the Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) IPL 2023 win against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH).

SRH set RCB a 187-run target after being asked to bat first in Hyderabad in their Indian Premier League encounter on Thursday, May 18. Kohli then smashed 100 runs off 63 balls to help the visitors register an eight-wicket win with four balls to spare, taking them a step closer to qualifying for the playoffs.

While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra heaped praise on Kohli, saying:

"He is India's honor, he is India's pride, his name is Virat Kohli and he is the king of centuries. Welcome him with applause because we got to see the vintage Virat Kohli on the Hyderabad ground. This was the best of Virat that we have seen."

The former Indian batter chose the RCB opener as the most valuable player (MVP) of the game ahead of Heinrich Klaasen, elaborating:

"The most valuable player of the game between Hyderabad and Bangalore was Virat Kohli. What a knock he played. When the first innings was on, I didn't have any doubts that Heinrich Klaasen is going to be the one.

"Other guys might score runs and Bangalore might win as well but the way Klaasen hit that century, I thought it wasn't possible to see a better innings in the same evening but Kohli came."

Klaasen smashed 104 runs off just 51 balls during the SunRisers Hyderabad innings. However, Kohli overshadowed that effort with his sixth century in the Indian Premier League, which is the joint-most alongside Chris Gayle.

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"This knock was sensational" - Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli's century

Virat Kohli was at his aggressive best against both pace and spin. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra pointed out that Virat Kohli was at his imperious best after inside-edging a T Natarajan delivery to the boundary in the third over of RCB's innings, stating:

"He first started with a drive, then hit in the air, both against Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and then he got an inside edge and was I thinking whether he was going too hard too soon, but after that he sent the ball to the moon. This knock was sensational."

The cricketer-turned-commentator concluded by highlighting that Kohli even displayed some shots that he generally doesn't play, observing:

"Some shots were incredible, shots that Kohli doesn't play. Kohli doesn't sit and hit a six against spin. We saw that shot. He flicked a six against Bhuvi and a short-arm pull that went for a 100-meter six. The on-the-rise drives he hit, the fielders in the deep were also unable to stop those."

Kohli struck 12 fours and four sixes during his innings. He strung together a 172-run opening-wicket partnership with Faf du Plessis (71 off 47) in less than 18 overs to virtually seal the game for RCB.