Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter and ex-India skipper Virat Kohli has opened up about his on-field struggles – a disastrous run that has seen the 33-year-old cricketer going without a hundred in over 100 games now.
However, the Delhi-born star was back at his imperious best on Thursday as he powered RCB to a comfortable eight-wicket triumph against Gujarat Lions at the iconic Wankhede Stadium.
Kohli made an impressive 73 off 54 deliveries, never showing any signs that he was the same player who was dismissed for first-ball ducks thrice in the tournament earlier.
Regarding his numbers, Virat Kohli last made a hundred in any format of cricket back in November 2019.
In the current edition of the IPL, Kohli has amassed 309 runs from 14 matches, but these figures showed a considerable improvement after his stellar show against Hardik Pandya and company.
Despite his fifty against Gujarat, there's little doubt that Kohli has underperformed in the cash-rich league.
For the first time in his career, he was dismissed for back-to-back golden ducks, having achieved the unwanted record against SRH.
Before his ongoing slump in form, the last time Virat Kohli struggled for a significant time was in 2014, when England great James Anderson had made him his bunny, dismissing him on several occasions as the India batter could only make 134 runs in 10 innings of the five-match Test series.
While experts have different opinions about how the run-machine could regain his old touch, the 2014 England tour has often been cited as an example of what happens when things go wrong for him.
But Kohli doesn't agree with those views and he has a completely different take on the subject:
“What happened in England was a pattern so something that I could work on, something that I had to overcome. Right now, there's nothing that you can point out saying there's a problem here. So that for me is an easier thing to process because I know that I'm batting well and at times when I start feeling that rhythm back then I know I'm batting well, which wasn't the case in England (where) I didn't feel like I was batting well at all. So I had to work hard on one thing that I could be exposed to again and again which I overcame,” Virat Kohli told IPL's official broadcaster Star Sports after RCB's win over GT.
Kohli even suggested that he could take a break from cricket. But he emphasised that he would have to discuss such a move with current national coach Rahul Dravid:
“To take a break and when to take a break is obviously something that I need to take a call on, but it is only a healthy decision for anyone to take some time off and just rejuvenate yourself mentally and physically,” Kohli added.
“It's only a matter of creating a balance and finding that balance which is right for you as an individual moving forward and I will definitely discuss this with all the people involved – Rahul bhai, the Indian team management – everyone to chart out whatever is best for myself and for the team definitely,” he stated.
Meanwhile, former India coach Ravi Shastri who is quite close to Virat Kohli lavished rich praise on the star batsman after his splendid batting display against Gujarat:
“Good, still not the best. But the pop is in the house, he has announced it to the world. If they qualify for the playoffs, if there is a problem with Delhi Capitals, then wait and watch. It is an announcement, it is to the world, do not mess around with the pop, when there is class, respect class. It will teach all the kids how to play,” Shastri said in a conversation with ESPNCricinfo.
Kohli, meanwhile, will be watching Saturday's game between the Delhi Capitals (DC) and Mumbai Indians (MI) with keen interest as a big win for the Rishabh Pant-led side could end RCB's hopes of qualifying for the playoffs.
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