Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has added that Virat Kohli slowed down his knock after the powerplay overs in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) win against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) as well. However, Kohli scored 51 runs off 43 balls as RCB set SRH a 207-run target. After that, they then restricted SRH to 171/8 to register a 35-run win as well.

While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “Virat Kohli was very, very aggressive in the powerplay but slowed down after that. He probably scored only 19 runs off the last 25 balls he faced. He got out probably in the 14th or 15th over but his last boundary came off the third ball of the sixth over. Not even a single boundary came from his bat in the eight-odd overs after the powerplay.”

However, the former India opener also lauded Rajat Patidar for ensuring that RCB didn’t fall behind the eight-ball in the middle overs as well. Patidar scored a 20-ball 50 with the help of two fours and five sixes as well. Meanwhile, Cameron Green then scored an unbeaten 37 off 20 balls to ensure RCB crossed the 200-run mark as well.

“He tried a little but couldn’t hit. When he was going slow, Rajat Patidar managed the party. 27 runs were scored in an over from Mayank Markande. He hit four sixes. He took the team to a position from where they would go past 200 with a slight push. That push was given by Cameron Green,” Chopra opined.

While talking about the game on Star Sports, Harbhajan Singh also questioned Virat Kohli’s post-powerplay approach with the bat as well.

“He played the powerplay brilliantly because the field was in and you get the gaps as well. When the field opens up, I am not saying that you need to convert every ball into a four but the strike rate could have been slightly better because he scored 20 runs in 27 balls. Patidar was playing the big shots at the other end but he will be slightly disappointed with himself because he has the ability to play much better than that. The innings started becoming slower as soon as the powerplay ended and Patidar was looking like a different-level player at the other end because he was hitting sixes at will,” Harbhajan Singh concluded.