Former India player Aakash Chopra has lauded Virat Kohli for scoring a match-winning half-century in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) IPL 2026 clash against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). He noted that the modern batting great kept his ego aside and was willing to play second fiddle to his partners.

SRH set RCB a 202-run target after being asked to bat first in the IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on Saturday, March 28. Kohli scored an unbeaten 69 off 38 deliveries in the chase to help the home team achieve the target with six wickets and 26 balls to spare.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the former India batter praised Kohli for remaining unbeaten and not letting his ego get the better of him in RCB’s IPL 2026 clash against SRH.

“The defending champions have started the season with a win, where the chase master was there. 31st March is approaching, and you need to chase targets. They did that easily and the guy was present at the end. He hit a six and then three consecutive fours,” Chopra said.

“There is a star after his name and he is a superstar. He finishes the match. He keeps his ego aside. He finished the match with sixes and fours in the end, but was very happy to play second fiddle also,” he added.

Virat Kohli struck five fours and as many sixes during his unbeaten 69-run knock. He added 101 runs for the second wicket with Devdutt Padikkal (61 off 26) and 53 runs for the third wicket with Rajat Patidar (31 off 12), allowing his partners to dominate both partnerships.

“He hit a six off the first ball and kept batting better and better after that” – Aakash Chopra lauds Devdutt Padikkal’s knock in RCB vs SRH IPL 2026 clash

In the same video, Aakash Chopra praised the Royal Challengers Bengaluru for playing Devdutt Padikkal ahead of Venkatesh Iyer in their IPL 2026 clash against the SunRisers Hyderabad and the Karnataka batter for proving the decision right.

“They played Devdutt Padikkal. Since this was the first match, whoever you played would have to be played for a long time. He was coming with such good form and scored runs last year. They ignored Venkatesh Iyer’s tempting option and Devdutt Padikkal batted beautifully. He hit a six off the first ball and kept batting better and better after that,” he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator also appreciated Rajat Patidar for taking full advantage of the full balls bowled to him.

“Rajat Patidar came absolutely smashing. Don’t bowl full to Rajat Patidar. Bowl fast and short to him. If he hits the short balls, no issues, but if you bowl full, you should blame yourself only,” Chopra observed.

Rajat Patidar struck two fours and three sixes during his 31-run knock. Although Jitesh Sharma got out for a golden duck after the RCB captain’s dismissal, Virat Kohli took the team over the line in Tim David’s (16* off 10) company.