Virat Kohli was at his absolute best in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 opener against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made light work of the 202-run chase, overhauling the target with six wickets in hand and 26 balls to spare. Chase Master Kohli once again proved his worth, hitting an unbeaten 69 to help the defending champions surpass the target with relative ease and comfort. Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin lauded the work ethic of the 37-year-old, saying he truly finds him “bizarre” for this age.
Kohli plays just one format for India (ODIs) following his retirements from T20Is and Tests. However, for now, he has been able to keep up with the rigours of international cricket. And the recent performances are proof enough to show he’s not going anywhere until the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Coming back to the match between RCB and SRH, Ashwin was taken aback by the ability of Kohli to run quick singles and doubles still. The match against SRH also saw Kohli forming a 101-run stand off just 45 balls for the second wicket with Devdutt Padikkal, with the bulk of the run-scoring being done by the latter.
“I find him quite bizarre at this age. I tell him this during our chats now and then. He was batting on 40-odd, there was a partnership going on, and RCB were coasting. He ran through for the first single, stopped there, and the other batter hadn’t even reached halfway, but he was already looking for a second. That was a 57-metre boundary on the leg side, and it shows the enthusiasm he still brings to the game,” Ashwin said on JioHotstar’s ‘Google Search AI Mode Match Centre Live’.
“He walks the talk. It’s almost like he’s putting on a show for people to see how the game should be played, play it hard and play it the way it’s meant to be played. That stood out to me with respect to what Virat did. And if this is the way RCB are going to bat, Virat needs to bat the full 20 overs,” he added.
Jacob Duffy’s impact
The win for RCB was not set up by Kohli or Padikkal. Rather, it was pacer Jacob Duffy. The Player of the Match scalped the wickets of Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy inside the powerplay. Ishan Kishan played a captain’s knock of 80, but the score of 201 was never going to be enough on a flat pitch like Chinnaswamy.
Speaking about Duffy, Ashwin stated, “When Jacob Duffy was picked at the auction, I was probably the first one to say it was an amazing pick to replace Josh Hazlewood. At that time, he was the No.1 T20 bowler. He had also taken a six-wicket haul in a Test match and is right in the prime of his career. He has bowled a lot in New Zealand and knows exactly what he is doing. What really stood out is that he can swing the ball both ways, but he didn’t try to do that against Abhishek Sharma.”
“The first time he bowled full to Travis Head, he got pumped down the ground, a good lesson learned. After that, he stayed away from that length and bowled very good areas. Tactically, RCB were superior, and he executed those plans beautifully. He was probably the reason the scoring was kept in check. With around 400 runs in the day, it was still a low-scoring game by Chinnaswamy standards,” he added.
The match between RCB and SRH also marked the Hindi commentary debut for Ashwin during the IPL. He was spotted calling the game alongside Virender Sehwag and Aakash Chopra.
