'The greatness of Virat has been reduced' - Matthew Hayden spotlights Kohli's lackluster performance against CSK

Former Chennai Super Kings player, Matthew Hayden has weighed in his opinion, as he dissected the impact of two stalwarts of Indian cricket, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. Hayden highlighted Kohli’s struggle against CSK since 2021 IPL despite his stellar record in preceding years. He also stressed the fact that Dhoni has done something different to tackle the star Indian batter over the years in IPL face-offs. Highlighting his stats against CSK, the former Australia opener made a bold statement saying, that the ‘greatness of Virat has been reduced.'

For the unversed, Royal Challengers Bangalore are set to clash with Chennai Super Kings in the opening game of the upcoming IPL 2024, on March 22 in Chennai. Speaking on the lines of southern derby, Hayden anticipated a high-stakes encounter between the two. His anticipation was palpable, owing to the somewhat underwhelming performance from Kohli, as he has below par average against the age-old rivals since the 14^th season of IPL.

“Virat enjoys a great record against the Chennai Super Kings, but since 2021 in the powerplay MS Dhoni has done something different. In three out of the five innings, he's gotten out within the power plays. Well one thing is for certain, it is a blockbuster showdown, Virat Kohli pretty much this year is going to be celebrated across all the games. His average is 30 at Chepauk Stadium with a strike rate of 111,” Hayden said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

“So straight away that shows the greatness of Virat has been reduced in terms of his overall performance at that venue. It is a tricky venue to bat on, especially as an opening batsman against a sort of weird tennis ball type bounce. It's a quite slow and difficult, especially to play his shots early and then the long he seems to bat the game opens up and that's where Virat can be at his most dangerous,” he added.

Virat Kohli to mark his public appearance via RCB unbox event

The 35-year-old is likely to make his first public appearance after staying out of media glare, during the RCB unbox event on March 19. He was out of action since the South Africa series. He had taken a sabbatical from cricket, as he was expecting the arrival of his second child. Initially having enrolled for the last leg of the Test series against England, the former India captain withdrew amidst the series and remained unavailable for the five-match affair.

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