Virat Kohli’s inability to convert good starts into bigger knocks in the last two-odd years has hurt the modern-day great’s run record significantly. His last international century came in November 2019.
Even in the first innings of the ongoing second and final Test versus Sri Lanka at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, he had begun well but couldn’t take it further after scoring 23, missing the line of a ball that had turned sharp and also kept a bit low.
Royal Challengers Bangalore director of cricket operations, Mike Hesson, though isn’t worried about Kohli’s form. He believes Kohli needs just one solid knock to be back to his best and once he does that, he would get a few more in quick time.
“Unfortunately, Virat has set a standard that’s very hard to maintain, as his ability to convert is second to none. We start to worry when he doesn’t convert for a period of time, but I don’t.
“I tend to think he’s saving them up and when he gets one, he’ll get three or four,” Hesson said on the sidelines of the ‘RCB Unbox’, a franchise promotional held on Saturday.
“So the fact that he’s still rated among the top five Test players in the world suggests he’s continuing to get pretty good output in terms of runs. He’s still scoring hard runs which often can be underestimated,” Hesson pointed out.
The former New Zealand head coach also believes that Kohli should be able to play with more freedom in this year’s IPL as he will not have to shoulder the workload of captaincy.
“For RCB, the fact the Virat is not going to be the captain will allow him to play with that little bit more freedom. And we know he plays his best then,” Hesson emphasised.
“He cares so much for this franchise. So when you are the captain and you love your team so much, you tend to try too hard sometimes.
“I am just as excited to see him playing this year without the shackles of captaincy.”
It has been learnt that the franchise doesn’t want to put too much pressure on Kohli in terms of assisting new captain Faf du Plessis with decision-making and other such matters. He will be allowed to focus primarily on his own game with the No.3 slot likely to be his position in the RCB batting order.
“Well, it’s very clear that Virat has given everything to the side as captain. He has given his heart and soul. He wanted to take a break and enjoy as a senior player and batsman, and we are very respectful of that as well.
“Just because his situation has changed with India, it doesn’t mean it has changed here as well in terms of him wanting to come, win all the matches and win the IPL for RCB. As a senior palyer, he’s very much aligned to that and keen to do that.
“Besides, we had spoken to Virat about our leadership options and he was quite excited about Faf,” Hesson explained.
