"He wasn't extracting the extreme T20 game out of himself" - Sanjay Manjrekar on Virat Kohli's batting exploits in IPL 2023 

Sanjay Manjrekar believes that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Virat Kohli still has the ability to do well in T20 cricket. The comments came on the back of Kohli's stunning 100-run knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Thursday.

The 34-year-old guided his team to a crucial eight-wicket win over Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium scoring 100 off 63 deliveries.

The cricketer-turned-commentator suggested that Kohli gave glimpses of his vintage self with his sensational ton. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, he remarked:

"What was important for me was to know whether Virat Kohli had that kind of a game still in him. On many occasions, you felt that he wasn't extracting the extreme T20 game out of himself. Today, we got an idea and we came to know that he has that game still, the one that we saw so much earlier, in 2016. When he decided that he was going to actually play in that fashion now, he has the ability."

During the same discussion, former Australian cricketer Tom Moody also mentioned that Kohli's knock reminded him of the 2016 season, where he finished with 973 runs.

"The best of Virat Kohli was in 2016, where he scored a number of hundreds. It reminds me of the way he batted in that season, where he scored 900-plus runs. The fluency and the aggression that he had from the start to the finish was intimidating. He totally bossed that Sunrisers attack."

Thanks to Kohli's innings, the Bangalore-based side chased down a stiff 188-run target with eight wickets and four balls to spare. With the victory, RCB climbed to fourth place in the standings.

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"Now you have got du Plessis, Maxwell and Kohli batting with the same kind of strike rate" - Sanjay Manjrekar on RCB batting order

Sanjay Manjrekar further stated that Virat Kohli's knock will give the Bangalore-based franchise a lot of confidence, as they now have three in-form players who can score runs at a brisk pace.

He also claimed that Kohli could extend his T20 career by continuing to bat in this fashion. Manjrekar elaborated:

"If Virat bats in this fashion, not only is it going to extend his T20 career, but suddenly you are looking at RCB as a different team. Because now you have got Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell and Virat Kohli batting with the same kind of strike rate. That is ominous."

RCB will take on defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) in their final league match of the season. The contest will be played at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday, May 21.