'He is as frustrated as anybody' - Mike Hesson on Virat Kohli's dismal form

Virat Kohli’s lean patch of form continues to be a hot topic in the cricket circuit as the talismanic batter has been enduring one failure after another in the ongoing IPL 2022. On Friday (May 13), Kohli played some fine shots early on against Punjab Kings and looked all set to play an innings of substance. However, he fell prey to Kagiso Rabada for a 14-ball 20.

Kohli was evidently exasperated with yet another failure as he looked towards the sky in agony. Notably, it was a crucial game for Royal Challengers Bangalore as a win would have brought them a step closer to the playoff berth. However, RCB batters failed to chase down 210 and eventually lost the contest by 54 runs.

Virat Kohli is doing everything off the park in terms of preparation: Mike Hesson

RCB’s director of cricket operations, Mike Hesson, opened up about Kohli’s form after the game and admitted that the 33-year-old is as frustrated as anyone. “Virat, I thought, looked very good today. He looked in good touch, he was aggressive, and he is doing everything off the park as well in terms of making sure he prepares well,” Hesson said in the post-match press conference.

“I thought today was going to be his day but once again it hits the other side of the thigh pad and goes down and he gets a single. He hasn’t had a huge amount of fortune especially when he has got himself set, when he has got himself in. He is as frustrated as anybody. We thought today was going to be the day,” he added.

It must be noted that Kohli has bagged as many as three golden ducks this season and has touched the 50-run mark only once. As IPL 2022 is heading towards its business end, many fans and experts reckon the RCB team management must take a tough call on Kohli’s position in the line-up. However, Hesson has backed the batter to overcome his dismal run soon.

“He is an incredible player. He hasn’t scored the volume of runs he would have liked. Today he looked in really good touch. It is not a technical thing. As I said, he is putting in a lot of work behind the scenes. He looked in really good touch today. He was unfortunate. I thought we were going to see something special. Virat is as frustrated as anyone but we know that the epic one is around the corner,” he said.