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Bengaluru, April 25: Former South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn heaped praise on Virat Kohli after the Royal Challengers Bengaluru star produced a match-winning knock against Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League, calling him “the best chaser to have ever played the game.”
Kohli played a decisive innings of 81 off 44 balls while chasing a challenging target of 206, guiding Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a five-wicket win on Friday. His innings, laced with eight boundaries and four sixes, also helped him reclaim the Orange Cap as the leading run-scorer of IPL 2026.Speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s Time: Out show, Steyn described Kohli as a “genius” and said one of his greatest strengths lies in his ability to read the game situation better than most players.
According to Steyn, Kohli’s brilliance is not just in stroke-making but in the way he plans a chase from the very first delivery he faces, calculating the path his team needs to take to reach the target.
“He’s a genius. He’s always looking to try and get better. He plays what’s in front of him and reads the situation. Probably one of the best players I’ve ever known who reads the situation and calculates how the game needs to be planned out from the first ball that he faces,” Steyn said.
The former pacer added that Kohli seems to mentally map out the chase early in his innings and executes it with remarkable clarity, a quality that sets him apart from others in world cricket.“He has kind of worked out a road to get to the final runs. He’s the best chaser to have ever played the game,” Steyn added. (Agencies)
