Virat Kohli of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is having a tough time in the Indian Premier League in 2022. The Faf du Plessis-led side decided to move Kohli up the order after he batted at No. 3 for eight games. However, despite a couple of streaky boundaries, Kohli was unable to get going and produced another single-digit score.
Virat Kohli has scored a total of 22 runs in his last five games, with scores of 1, 12, 0, 0, and 9. RCB made one change at the top of the order, replacing Anuj Rawat with Rajat Patidar at No. 3, but their top-order woes continued to plague them as they were reduced to 58/4 by the 10th over and eventually fell short by 29 runs off the Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) 144.
Riyan Parag rallies behind Virat Kohli
In his last three appearances, Virat Kohli has been bowled for a first-ball duck thrice, is averaging only 16, and has only managed to score 128 runs in nine matches. In terms of numbers, he’s having a nightmare IPL 2022.
While he still has issues with deliveries going away, the former India and RCB skipper appears to have discovered a new weakness against hard-length deliveries. Kohli has been dismissed twice for attempting a pull shot and twice for deflecting away from his body to balls that were just short of a good length and rising.
As Kohli’s poor record continued, ESPNCricinfo asked fans on Twitter what advice they would give to the former RCB captain in the face of dismal returns. The majority of the fans stated that they are not in a position to advise a batsman who has 70 international centuries to his name. Riyan Parag, who played a role in Kohli’s dismissal on Tuesday, also entered the conversation and mirrored the fans’ sentiment. Parag said, “None of us should [advise him], let the GOAT do his thing.”
None of us should, let the 🐐 do his thing🙌🏻 https://t.co/0WxZduica8
— Riyan Paragg (@ParagRiyan) April 26, 2022
On Tuesday, Kohli and RCB captain Faf du Plessis came out to open the batting. On the third ball, he was almost caught, but the ball bounced just inches away from the square leg fielder. The next Trent Boult delivery was flicked for a boundary, and he nearly chopped it back onto his stumps twice in the over’s final two deliveries.
Prasidh Krishna dismissed him for 9 in the next over when he got a bottom edge while trying to play a pull shot.
