Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has said that great Indian cricketer Virat Kohli’s innings in the MI vs RCB game was extremely slow and he was worried about the lack of proper mindset during the game.
Rajat Patidar has played many brilliant innings in this edition of IPL. His main role in the last season was as a captain; However, this season he has shown remarkable leadership with the bat. Patidar scored two consecutive half-centuries in the last two matches.
However, his innings have come at a very fast pace as he scored more than 250 runs in three matches, while he also played a very subtle role in RCB’s comeback against the Royals. However, in contrast, Kohli has struggled with his strike rate after completing his second half-century in IPL 2026.
“Virat Kohli scored really slowly.” -Aakash Chopra
In the same video, former Indian batsman Aakash Chopra said that Virat Kohli’s innings was very slow, and although his team did not suffer any loss till the end of the game, the target fell short by a considerable margin due to his poor strike rate.
Chopra said, “Virat Kohli scored really very slowly. If you look at it in the context of the match, you think it doesn’t matter because you won, but if you look at it from a cricketing perspective, it was a very slow innings. That kind of innings is unbecoming of this competition and neither is it in the making for Virat.”
“We saw a pretty good attack of Fit Salt. I was only asking if Jacob Bethel could be fed. He said, ‘Relax, sir, I’m there.’ Phil Salt’s batting was of top class as a good start was essential. This was an opening partnership of more than 100 runs. When Phil Salt starts hitting, he doesn’t stop,” he said while speaking about RCB’s second opener Phil Salt.
Aakash Chopra expressed great concern about Virat Kohli’s injury.
Chopra pointed out that the RCB veteran lacks the mentality he is widely known for, which was evident in the match against Mumbai Indians, as he also wasted two reviews due to wrong calls for wide deliveries.
He said, “He was trying, but it didn’t happen. In fact, he was probably so distracted that he wasted two reviews on wide balls. That tells me something about his mentality.”
After this he further said that perhaps Virat Kohli is also injured, because this was the first time in his entire IPL career that Virat Kohli did not come out to field even after playing well with the bat.
“He was injured as well. Maybe that’s a bit of an issue because it was the first time I didn’t see him coming on the field. So he was injured and the knock was also slow,” he said.
Akash announces the return of RCB captain to the Indian team
In the same video, Aakash Chopra praised Rajat Patidar for consistently playing big shots as soon as he came to the crease during IPL 2026.
He said, “Rajat Patidar is batting so well. He hit 14 sixes in the whole of last year, which is great because he got the team to win. However, he has hit 18 sixes so far. He has hit 10 sixes in the first 10 balls he has faced. It has only been four innings, and he has hit 10 sixes in the first 10 balls. This pace is terrifying.”
During the interview, cricketer turned commentator Hardik Pandya claimed that Rajat Patidar’s ability to play spin so well will give him a chance to make a comeback in the Indian team, as he has struggled in that department.
Chopra said, “Who starts like that? This guy does that. There was a time when people bowled spin to him, he used to hit. Now even fast bowlers bowl, he hits. Rajat Patidar is captaining well and batting very well. At some point of time, he will make a comeback in the Indian team.”
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