Former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin lauded star batter Virat Kohli after his magnificent knock guided Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL 2026 opener on Saturday. Playing at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, RCB were chasing a target of 202 when Kohli once again displayed his exceptional talent, scoring an unbeaten 69 off just 38 balls to help his side cross the line in only 15.4 overs. Along with Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal also played a crucial role in the victory, smashing 61 off 26 deliveries.
Speaking exclusively on JioHotstar’s Match Centre Live, Ashwin praised Kohli’s extraordinary fitness levels and highlighted his technique while running between the wickets, calling it a key factor behind his continued success.
“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. He walks the talk,” said Ashwin.
“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 for me with respect to what Virat did. And if this is the way RCB are going to bat, Virat just needs to bat the full 20 overs,” he added.
Ashwin also spoke about pacer Jacob Duffy, who took three wickets and removed SRH’s top order to give a good start to RCB.
“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,” said Ashwin.
“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.