The Royal Challengers Bangalore batting coach Sanjay Bangar reiterated that star batter Virat Kohli will soon ‘emerge’ out of the lean phase he is experiencing at the moment and help his team win games going forward in the IPL 2022. Kohli’s scores in his last five innings read 9, 0, 0, 12 and 1. The manner of his dismissals also show that he is not in the best of form.
“Regarding Kohli’s form, he’s a great cricketer. He’s experienced these highs and lows many times before. I’ve observed him from close quarters. He has the spirit and he’ll emerge from these run of low scores. In the coming crucial games, he’ll help us win,” Bangar said at the post match press conference after RCB’s 29-run loss to Rajasthan Royals.
Kohli has scored 128 runs in 9 matches of IPL 2022 so far at an average of 16 with a strike-rate of 119.62 with a top-score of 48.
“We aren’t talking about anything different (in practice), to be honest. The way he prepares, he always puts himself out of comfort zone and prepares and that’s his specialty. This is why he can emerge from tough situations and his attitude his commendable. Yes, he’s had a low run of scores but he is so mentally strong, he’ll be able to put in a better performance,” he added.
Bangar has also worked closely with Kohli in the national team when he was the batting coach. The former India international also acknowledged the top-order’s form is a concern.
“We’ve all seen that negotiating the new ball is a challenge for most of the teams. Whenever we lose early wickets, we sort of lose them in clusters and that’s what is pulling the team back and (we are) rightly (losing) games that we should have won. That’s why we are not able to finish the job,” he added.
RCB captain Faf du Plessis also backed Kohli, who hasn’t scored a hundred in any format for more than three years now, to make a strong come back. RCB have won five games and lost four so far in the season. They currently occupy the fifth spot on the points table.
