Virat Kohli hopes for a fresh beginning after the dark phase

Royal Challengers Bangalore always had the tag of the ‘most glamorous team’ in the Indian Premier League (IPL). With a team that comprises of the ‘Universe Boss’ Christopher Henry Gayle, ‘Mr.360°’ AB de Villiers and Indian national team captain Virat Kohli, they are expected to be the firm favorites in any tournament they feature in.

Though RCB never managed to win IPL, they have always impressed their fans with their performance. But this year, the tables have turned. It is a shock for the entire cricketing fraternity, as they have repeated KKR’s performance in 2009. From getting bundled out for less than a 50 runs to conceding over 100 runs in the power-play without taking a wicket, they have been the subject of ridicule in every right.

Virat Kohli admitted that players’ were very hurt at the team’s dismal performance. Though there is not much to play for them now but pride, he said they will have to get the losses out of their mind and try to move forward.

In a sponsor event on Wednesday, a dejected captain and fallen leader said “As players, it hurts us the most. We tried everything to turn things around but it just didn’t happen.  These things happen sometimes. Last year was great for us, this year has been the opposite. You have to accept them and move forward”.

He admitted that when a team is performing so badly, it is difficult to think positively at the moment, as he has hardly any positives to take out from the losses. He said “It’s not easy to pick yourself up after the kind of results that we have had. It gets tough when you are pushing the team forward in whatever way you can and not getting the desired results. That’s when you expect the players who you believe are good enough at this level to step up, motivate themselves and take ownership of the team. It’s very easy to get frustrated and point fingers when you are not doing well but I think we have embraced and accepted what has happened.

“We have tried to laugh it off at times. There have been situations that have been so helpless that we have come back to the change room laughing”, a stupefied captain shared the scenario in the dressing room when his team was dumb-founded. He concluded by saying “We have all learnt a lot from this season and I am sure the guys realise a lot about themselves, their games and we are only going to get better from here on. It can’t get any worse. We probably had our worst season in the IPL and it is an opportunity to start fresh [ for the next season]”.

With BCCI indicating there might be a fresh auction next season with no-retention policy, we might see India’s favorite son ‘VK’ donning a jersey of some different color. But he has bought a place in the hearts of every RCB-fanatic. We can’t argue with the fact that Kohli’s contribution to RCB has been immense since it’s birth. It will be appropriate to describe his passion for the franchise by the phrase “You can take Virat Kohli out of RCB, but you can’t take RCB out of Virat Kohli”.