Kohli was dismissed for just 9 against RR
Former Indian player RP Singh believes that the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are not far away from dropping Virat Kohli from playing XI. The former captain’s poor form continued with a tame dismissal in the loss against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Tuesday.
Kohli was promoted to the top of the order after Anuj Rawat was dropped from the team. Despite the change in formation, the 33-year-old’s fortunes remained the same. He was dismissed by Prasidh Krishna in the second over after scoring nine runs off 10 deliveries.
Opining that RCB will consider benching the batter if he fails to score in the next couple of matches, RP Singh said on Cricbuzz:
“He is a big player no doubt, but it must be said that he is not in form. We saw today how many inside edges were there, he is usually someone who dominates the bowlers early on.”
Singh added:
“Team management and Kohli are both trying, it is not like they are not. But he is far away from hitting good form. If he flops for one or two matches, RCB will look at resting him, give him a break.”
Kohli was on the brink of being dismissed for a third consecutive duck, but got a major repreive as the chance fell just short of Daryl Mitchell. He continued to survive after a couple of inside edges in his 10-ball stay at the crease.
Believing that Kohli did not make the most of his luck, Parthiv Patel said:
“You sometimes need luck when you are short of runs. Kohli was getting that luck initially, but he could not make the most of it. He must be thinking about his form, he knows his game very well. For players only 20-25 runs is enough to get back in form.”
The right-hander has only scored 21 runs in his last five innings. His only noteworthy knocks were against PBKS and MI, where he registered scores just shy of a half-century.
“Their biggest problem is how to approach the game” – RP Singh on RCB’s troubles
After a relatively breezy start to the tournament, RCB are currently wobbling with two consecutive heavy defeats under their belt. Chasing 145 runs for victory against RR, the three-time finalists looked shaky from the word go. The constant fall of wickets did not help their case as well in the second innings.
Opining that RCB should have had two batters just stay out in the middle and settle down, RP Singh said:
“Earlier there used to be problems with RCB’s bowling, now it is the batting, actually their biggest problem is how to approach the game. A message could have been sent to the batters to just hold and protect their wicket.”
The Faf du Plessis-led side will next face Gujarat Titans at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on April 30 (Saturday).
