Former Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli is going through a low phase in his professional career with a lean patch in the ongoing season of IPL. After a couple of run-outs and a controversial LBW decision going against his favour, Kohli was dismissed on a golden duck in the last two matches, which made the case even worse for him. The maverick Indian batter last scored a century in 2019 and after that, an unusual phase started in his career where he has been unable to convert his fifties into a three-digit score.
Delhi Capitals assistant coach Shane Watson, who played alongside Kohli during his stint with RCB, said that the 33-year-old’s energy has dipped a bit, which he witnessed during his team’s clash against Bangalore.
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“In the last game, where Delhi Capitals played against them, there was something tiny bit different with Virat. Because I have seen him before, I have played against him and with him for a couple of years at RCB. It looked like his energy was a little bit different, a little bit off. The thing with Virat is that he is always so amped every time he goes out to bat, every time he is in the field. It is superhuman what he has been able to do so far and sustained for such a long period of time. He’s a freak of nature with the intensities he’s able to continue to keep up in his game,” Watson said on The Grade Cricketer’s Podcast.
Watson highlighted that stepping down as Team India captain might have put an effect on Kohli’s game.
“And the other night, it was just the other night I felt his battery was just a tiny bit off. In the end, he is human, even though everything he has done is just about he’s superhuman, especially with the intensity he has been able to take to every single game but at some stage and it wouldn’t surprise me if in and around the Indian stuff or him stepping down as captain, that’s going to suck a lot of energy out of him because I know how much it meant to him,” he further stated.
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Kohli stepped down as India’s T20I captain last year after T20 World Cup to manage his workload and focus on the leadership of ODI and Test formats. However, he was sacked as ODI captain as the selectors wanted a single captain in the white-ball formats. Meanwhile, after the South Africa series earlier this year, Kohli relinquished the Test captaincy too.
An controversy occurred when Kohli was sacked as ODI captain as his statement in a press conference contradicted BCCI president Sourav Ganguly who claimed that he personally asked the batting maestro to not step down as T20I captain.
Watson said that the whole incident might have put a toll on Kohli but the former Aussie all-rounder backed him to return to form soon.
“Whatever went on there would have been a big call for him to step down as captain for India. So, at some stage it is going to take a toll in a little way. The energy is a tiny bit off but if he gets into a battle on the field, he’ll find that energy it straight away because that’s the type of batsman he is and type of person he is. He’s always up for a battle. He will find that switch, he’ll find it,” Watson said.
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