Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has predicted a tough game for Virat Kohli in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Indian Premier League match against Rajasthan Royals on April 10. Despite Kohli’s strong start to the season, Chopra believes Rajasthan Royals will rely on Sandeep Sharma to recall the star batsman and limit the team’s opening partnership.
The contest assumes significance with both RR and RCB sitting unbeaten at the top of the table and facing high stakes at the start of the Indian Premier League season. “Sandeep Sharma vs Virat Kohli is a story again because he doesn’t have very good numbers against him,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel. “The strike rate is decent but the numbers are not outstanding. He doesn’t like to play Sandeep Sharma because he doesn’t set the pace.”
The numbers underline Chopra’s assessment. In 18 innings against Sandeep Kohli, he scored 132 runs at a success rate of 150 while being dismissed seven times, suggesting a pattern the Royals could exploit. With Kohli opening the batting and Sandeep likely to take the new ball, another power duel between the two is on the cards. While Kohli has been in decent touch with 97 runs in two matches, Sandeep has quietly remained one of Rajasthan’s most economical and reliable bowlers despite a modest three-wicket haul.
KEY BATTLES WITHIN SETUPS
Apart from the Kohli-Sandeep toss-up, Chopra highlighted a few other matches that could affect the outcome of the contest. Rajasthan’s overseas pace duo of Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger are expected to challenge the Bengaluru batting unit with the new ball.
“Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger will be asking tough questions with the new ball,” he added. “Phil Salt scored a couple of runs in the last game so we will focus on him. Devdutt Padikkal is in dream form and most of his runs came against Rajasthan Royals so it will be worth watching.”
For RCB, Devdutt Padikkal has been a standout player, smashing back-to-back fifties with knocks in excess of 200 and becoming the team’s top run-scorer this season. In contrast, Phil Salt is still looking for consistency as he scored 54 runs in two innings. With several individual battles in the pipeline, Friday’s clash promises to hinge on how these key players handle the pressure at key stages of the game.
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Published on:
10 April 2026 14:36 IST
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