India, March 30 -- All praise for Virat Kohli, former off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin says the Indian stalwart continues to "walk the talk" with his unmatched energy and intensity despite having retired from Test and T20I formats.

Returning to T20 cricket for the first time since last year's IPL final on June 3, Kohli showed no signs of rust, smashing his 28th IPL half-century (69 not out off 38 balls) to power defending champions Royal Challengers (RCB) Bengaluru to a commanding six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2026 season-opener.

"He walks the talk," Ashwin said on a JioHotstar show.

"It's almost like he's putting on a show for people to see how the game should be played, play it hard and play it the way it's meant to b...