"It seems he will remain in the Orange Cap race this year" - Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli's knock in RCB's win against MI

Aakash Chopra has lauded Virat Kohli for playing a match-winning knock for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) against the Mumbai Indians (MI) and opined that the modern batting great will be in the Orange Cap race in IPL 2023.

RCB defeated MI by eight wickets in their tournament opener at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, April 2. Kohli scored an unbeaten 82 off just 49 balls to help the home team win the match with 22 deliveries to spare.

While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra predicted Virat Kohli to be among the top run-getters in IPL 2023, elaborating:

"From Virat Kohli's knock, it seems he will remain in the Orange Cap race this year. There is some similarity between 2016 and this season. He was in sublime form for six months at the international level ahead of IPL 2016. Now also he is close to that sublime form at the international level."

The former Indian opener pointed out that Kohli's opening-wicket partnership with Faf du Plessis all but sealed the game for RCB, stating:

"Faf du Plessis was the aggressor. He went fast at the start and then Virat Kohli caught up. When you are chasing and especially if it is the Chinnaswamy ground, one plus one is not two, but it becomes 11 when two openers play like that."

A grand opening! 💥

Faf and Kohli stitched the highest opening stand for us against MI in IPL history!

#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2023 https://t.co/AprxCo7zrX

The Mumbai Indians set a 172-run target for the Royal Challengers Bangalore after being asked to bat first. The two RCB openers then added 148 runs in less than 15 overs to virtually end the match as a contest.

"Tilak Varma has the might" - Aakash Chopra on MI youngster's knock against RCB

Tilak Varma smashed an unbeaten 84 off just 46 balls. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Speaking about the Mumbai Indians' innings, Aakash Chopra praised Tilak Varma for bailing his side out of a precarious situation, observing:

"Mumbai were asked to bat first but they couldn't bat. What a spell from Siraj. Ishan Kishan got out and Rohit Sharma should have also been out. Cameron Green was dismissed by Reece Topley. Tilak Varma has the might. The way he played when Mumbai were struggling was absolutely thumbs up."

The reputed commentator concluded by pointing out that Rohit Sharma and Co. will have to resolve their batting issues quickly, saying:

"Mumbai have once again lost the first match and they have got plenty to ponder. If they don't bat well, if Rohit and Tim David don't score runs, this team will be seen struggling. Suryakumar Yadav was slightly unfortunate, the cut shot went straight to the hands, but he did get out."

Tilak Varma was a lone warrior with the bat for MI against RCB. Nehal Wadhera (21) was the only other Mumbai Indians player to cross the 15-run mark.