It is not unusual for sportspersons to see up and downs, even touching the lowest ebb at times, in their career. Virat Kohli is no exception to this phenomenon so common in sports. He has performed below par in this season of IPL. A fine batsman like him could not make a place even among top 20 scorers in the tournament. It was disappointing to see Kohli struggle to make his mark with the bat.
He got out thrice without scoring a single run and scored below 10 six times. He got run out twice. The only solace for him, however, is he was able to cross the 7000-run mark for RCB in the previous match. Another big takeaway for him in this tournament is that he scored two half centuries against Gujarat Titans, who have won the largest number of matches in the league. He scored only 309 runs at an average of 23.77. With a strike rate of 117.93, he has performed quite below than what has been is hallmark.
This is the first occasion when he has scored less than 400 runs after Season 4 of the IPL tournament. I read an observation made by Faf du Plessis, the opening partner of Virat Kohli, after RCB lost to Punjab by 54 runs, with Virat losing his wicket when had scored 20 runs only. The former captain of South Africa cricket team had observed how Virat got out in different ways. He got run out. He was bowled out and was also caught out. Not only that, he also fell to what we call bad umpiring.
However, an innings is enough for a batsman to find his rhythm. I am happy to see the manner Virat Kohli scored 73 runs out of 54 balls in the last match. This would help him find his rhythm again, I am certain. The kind of approach and mindset Virat has reflects in his performance. The way he plays his shots also shows he has a hunger for runs. The innings he played against Gujarat Titans shows amply these qualities. It felt good when he said after the match that he had practiced 90 minutes behind the nets. His hard work had an imprint on his game in this match.
He has a huge fan following across the world, and everybody expects a lot from him. I believe that Virat will not disappoint them in future. He has always been a very hard-working man and these days too he is putting in all efforts to improve his performance. Audiences will certainly see good consequences of what is trying to accomplish.
He has been opening the batting for the last couple of matches. But then the opening slot is known for putting the batsman under tremendous psychological pressure. I feel he should play third down in batting order which suits him well. He would be seen batting in this slot in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia as well.
Rajkumar Sharma is the coach of Virat Kohli and a Dronacharya Awardee