Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra reckons that the world got to see the best of Virat Kohli during the IPL 2023 contest against the SunRisers Hyderabad on Thursday. The 45-year-old stated that he felt Heinrich Klaasen's knock was the best until Kohli wielded his willow.
Virat Kohli levels IPL century tally with Chris Gayle:
The former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain smacked a record-breaking sixth IPL hundred to notch an eight-wicket win for his side at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The 34-year-old reached the landmark with a memorable six over deep midwicket, and RCB coasted home eventually with three balls to spare.
Meanwhile, Chopra labeled the star batter as India's pride and said Kohli's innings was a touch better than that of Klaasen, who scored 104 of 51 balls.
"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 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," Chopra spoke on his YouTube channel.
Aakash Chopra awestruck by Virat Kohli's shots:
The 10-Test veteran observed that Kohli played many shots that are unlike him and how unstoppable his aerial shots looked.
"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. 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."
The Royal Challengers will lock horns in their last league game against the Gujarat Titans on Sunday.
