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Aakash Chopra calls Test retirement Virat Kohli’s best ODI decision

Former India opener Aakash Chopra believes that Virat Kohli has found a renewed sense of freedom in limited-overs action after stepping away from the longest format of the game. According to Chopra, letting go of red-ball duties has cleared any mental clutter, allowing the veteran batsman to purely enjoy his appearances in fifty-over fixtures for his country and twenty-over matches for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

This assessment followed a stellar display during the opening fixture against West Indies, where the hosts successfully tracked down a target of 296 with a pair of wickets down and more than eight overs to spare.

During that commanding run chase, the right-handed star anchored the innings with an unbeaten knock of 139 runs coming from just 88 balls, featuring ten boundaries and nine maximums. The performance marked his 86th international century, placing him second only to Sachin Tendulkar on the all-time list while Ricky Ponting sits third.

He also extended his own records for most centuries in run chases with 30 and most hundreds in the current decade with 12, finishing ahead of competitors like Shai Hope and Shubman Gill. Earlier in the same match, Gill contributed a century of 110 runs as the pair combined for a massive partnership that sealed the victory.

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