In a recent Youtube video, Manoj Tiwary published information about a long time ago dialogue between him and Virat Kohli at the time of IPL 2017. He disclosed that he enquired of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) superstar how he could be so constant.
The Ex India battler disclosed that Kohli informed him that he always decides to deal with the best bowler of the rival team. Tiwary’s comments came after the seasoned campaigner’s 49-run knock off 34 balls in RCB’s five-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Wednesday, April 15.
In a discussion with Cricbuzz, Tiwary said:
“We don’t call him a great just like that. When I was with Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017, we played against RCB in Bengaluru. He had an outstanding season the previous year, scoring over 900 runs. I went and asked him, ‘Aise kaise karta hai tu (How do you do this)?’ He told me one thing which I liked a lot. He said, ‘Main opposition ka jo best bowler hai, main usko hi target karta hoon (I target the best bowler of the opposition)’.
“He did the same today as well. Mohammad Shami was leading the attack and was their best bowler.”
Kohli’s ability to read matches was commended by Tiwary. He emphasized that the batter adjusts his strategy based on the circumstances.
“He plays according to the situation. The run rate was 10 in the powerplay where Virat Kohli launched an attack against Shami. It was just a formality after that, just trying to build a partnership and taking the game forward,” he added.
At the moment, Kohli is the IPL 2026 Orange Cap holder. At a strike rate of 158.33, the star hitter has amassed 228 runs in five innings.
“They did not waste this game” – Zaheer lauds RCB’s tactical move in IPL 2026 match vs LSG
In the match, Jitesh Sharma batted before Tim David, according to Zaheer Khan. He recommended that RCB use a fluid hitting lineup, and they tried Jitesh in this game.
According to the former India pacer, if the team had been chasing a large score, the management would have placed David ahead of the wicketkeeper. In just 15.1 overs, RCB surpassed the 147-run mark thanks to Jitesh’s 23 off nine balls.
In the same conversation, he stated:
“They are taking away a tactical advantage. They did not waste this game from that aspect. Jitesh Sharma was sent up the order, which was a tactical move. If the target was a bigger one, Tim David would have come ahead of him. They have that flexibility, and they are not leaving a single chance tactically.”
RCB is leading the IPL 2026 points standings after winning four of their first five games. On Saturday, April 18, they play the Delhi Capitals (DC) at Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
