Virat Kohli might pick a battle with someone from the opposition team when Royal Challengers Bengaluru walk out to play their final against Punjab Kings, said former cricketer Varun Aaron on Monday, June 2.
Speaking ahead of the Indian Premier League final, Aaron said that things are lined up for RCB to lift their first-ever trophy in the history of the tournament. Aaron said that Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, who has never lost a single final in his career, has been the lucky charm for the Bengaluru side.
“I mean there’s a lot of symbolism this year for RCB. They won a game at the Chepauk after so long. They have done incredible things this year. And Hazlewood has been their lucky charm—not just a lucky charm, somebody who’s really performed well and he knows what to bring to the finals,” Aaron said on JioHotstar before the Tuesday final.
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Aaron added on Virat Kohli, stating that it is the batter’s way to pick a fight in the middle of the pitch, which keeps him switched on throughout the game. Kohli has been very animated in the field this year, celebrating each wicket with high intensity. In their group-stage match against Punjab Kings, Kohli had picked a fight with Shreyas Iyer, the captain of the opposition side.
“I think when it comes to Kohli and Hazlewood, what Kohli does really well is pick a battle. The way he zones in and the way he cues in, especially in big games, he just picks a battle and gets completely focused and consumed in that battle, and that’s what Virat Kohli is going to do tomorrow. He’s going to pick a bowler. He’s going to go after him. You’re going to see him come hard on the field as well and try to pick a battle with somebody, and he consumes himself in that battle, and that’s how he gets going and that’s how he wins big finals,” Aaron concluded.
Matthew Hayden, while speaking on the same panel, spoke about the method of preparing for the final. Hayden said that it was very difficult to sleep before a big match and stated that all the big-match players find a solution to small problems leading into the game.
“What you really have to do is just dial in. And find that serenity that can happen in a big-match occasion when there’s so much noise. There’s going to be over 100,000 people screaming for one side or the other here tomorrow. Man, it’s so hard to sleep the night before a final. It doesn’t matter how much you’ve won or how much you’ve lost—you’ve still got these dilemmas that happen mentally. So all of these things, great champions find a way to unpack and they find a solution to the inevitable problems that happen throughout the course of any particular game,” Hayden said.
The RCB vs PBKS final is set to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
