"Virat Kohli is the best on the planet", says Aakash Chopra

Virat Kohli, the Indian captain, has been going through the purplest of patches in 2018. He keeps setting the bar high with every passing day and his consistency across all formats is just extraterrestrial. The most recent to have reaffirmed the sheer brilliance of the 30-year old is the former Indian opener, Aakash Chopra. The cricketer-turned-commentator took to Twitter and lauded Virat’s performance on Day 2 in the second Test match against Australia at the new Perth Stadium.

Australia, having batted first, got all out for 326 at the stroke of lunch. India, in reply, didn’t get off to a splendid start as they lost both the openers, Murali Vijay and KL Rahul, within the first six overs. The onus was once again on the Indian skipper to get the team out of jail. Virat started off amazingly by scoring his first 19 runs in just 12 balls.

He then simmered down and played with a lot of patience and watchfulness. The supersonic batsman remained unbeaten on 82 at the closure of the second day’s play, courtesy of his superb partnerships with Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane.

Virat Kohli is unbelievable

The Delhi-born impressed one and all with his impeccable display of batting. Well, Aakash Chopra certainly seemed to be one of them as he tweeted on what he witnessed at Perth. The tweet heaped praise on Virat for his sheer ability and to bring out his best whenever the team needs him. The same quality is what, according to the 41-year old, makes him the ‘best batsman in the world by a fair margin’.

Here is the tweet

Kohli’s ability to bring the best out of himself when the contest demands is simply unbelievable…challenging pitch…top quality attack…Bring It On. Best batsman on the planet by a fair margin 🙌🙏😊 #RunMachine #ausvind #7cricket

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 15, 2018

Aakash Chopra signified that the conditions in Perth were not conducive for batting yet the No.1 Test batsman showed tremendous skill and temperament. Given that the Australian bowling quartet was on full throttle and kept landing the balls with utmost precision, Kohli’s rock-solid 82 runs are a lot more valuable than what they suggest, according to his tweet.

India scored 172 runs for the loss of 3 wickets at stumps on Day 2 with Virat needing 18 more runs to earn yet another Test match hundred. The run machine didn’t have a great outing with the bat in the first Test match in Adelaide. Considering the match situation, a big hundred from the classy right-hander would really tip the scale towards Team India for victory.

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