Former India opener Virender Sehwag believes that if Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Virat Kohli scores a century in the upcoming IPL 2022 Eliminator match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), it will not be considered a bad season for him.
In Bangalore’s last league match against the Gujarat Titans, the 33-year-old returned to form with a sublime 73 off 54. As RCB won by eight wickets, he was named player of the match. In the first half of the IPL 2022 league stage, he struggled a lot, scoring three golden ducks.
Virender Sehwag on Virat Kohli
IPL 2022 is nearing its conclusion, with playoffs being held to determine the two finalists. In the tournament’s Eliminator, Faf du Plessis’ Royal Challengers Bangalore will face KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants. All eyes will be on former RCB captain Virat Kohli, who revived his IPL 2022 form with a 73-run knock against the Gujarat Titans in the last league game.
Virender Sehwag, speaking about Kohli’s performance this season, said that a century would be enough to make up for his poor performances in the IPL 2022 so far. Kohli, who has been out of form in recent months, has been backed by the former Indian opener to perform against LSG.
“If Kohli scores a century against LSG, who will say looking at his stats that he had a bad season? He will then end with 400-plus runs and that is considered a good season. He has a great platform to excel as his team has reached the knockouts. Kohli can perform well and take the team forward.” Sehwag said.
Kohli has had a forgettable IPL season, scoring only 309 runs at an average of 23.77 and a strike rate of 117.94 in 14 games. This season, the 33-year-old has only two half-centuries to his credit.
Meanwhile, RCB won eight of the 14 games they played in IPL 2022, finishing fourth in the league stage. The upcoming IPL Eliminator match against the Lucknow Super Giants will be RCB’s third in a row. Former RCB keeper Parthiv Patel said the team would like to get past the hurdle this time after losing knockout matches in 2020 and 2021.
“Virat Kohli used to drop a player after no performance in 2-3 games” – Virender Sehwag
— Ravish Rathod.🕊️ (@LazyElegance45) May 25, 2022
“They qualified in the last two seasons as well. But they were losing matches as they approached the qualifiers and just sneaked through. They were starting well but losing games before the playoffs. Thus, they did not have the momentum heading into the playoffs. Things are different here. They won their last match and have tasted wins in a couple of games before that as well. They have been eliminated in the Eliminator twice before, but will be hopeful of getting past it this time,” he said.
