What does Virat Kohli's comeback means for him, RCB and India after his long downfall and debacle
Kohli scoring 73 in the last league game of RCB increased hopes of him regaining his form in the upcoming England tour.
There is a famous quote from English playwright William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” The quote can clearly define the past few years and the downfall of former senior Indian captain and modern-day great batter Virat Kohli. But here, in Kohli’s story, it is still debatable if it’s a fault in his stars or a fault in himself.
Kohli scored his last international century on 23rd November 2019 against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens. It was the 70th century in international cricket. Since then, it’s been 34 months of his century drought in either of the formats. His batting miseries followed him in the ongoing season of IPL 2022 as well before he scored a remarkable and match-winning knock of 73 runs recently against Gujrat Titans on 19 May 2022.
In this opinion piece, it will be analyzed what this comeback of the most successful Indian Test skipper means both for India and his IPL franchise RCB, who may get a chance to play in knockouts depending on the result of the MI vs DC match.
Drought, downfall and debacle, It’s not the Kohli we’ve seen
Undoubtedly, the most successful captain of India in the longest format of the game. The man who dominated almost a decade long era has had to witness an unexpected debacle in the last couple of months which will also be known as one of the most controversial turnarounds in Indian Cricket.
Signed off from his duty as captain of the Indian national cricket team, firstly in Test cricket and then from limited-overs format too. These months went very tough both for Virat Kohli and the Indian cricket as well. Amidst all this, everything went extremely in an opposite direction for the man of Virat’s stature.
A sudden downfall was seen in his batting as well. Just after quitting captaincy, Kohli also struggled for runs in almost every format of the game. Meanwhile, the drought of an international century also extended for him.
Significance of this comeback for Kohli, RCB and India as well
Kohli’s start in IPL 2022 was not like the one his fans expected from him. A couple of ducks and below-average performances doesn’t seem good against the name of the batter who has once scored 973 runs in an IPL season, the record which he still owns. In this season, Kohli has appeared in all 14 innings of 14 matches RCB played. He has scored only 309 runs with a miserable batting average of 23.77 with only two fifties to his name.
But in the last league game of RCB against Gujarat Titans, the former captain of RCB has played an innings of a kind he is known for. Before getting stumped out by Matthew Wade, Kohli scored 73 runs on 54 balls hitting 8 fours and 2 sixes with a strike rate of 135.18.
After this performance from Kohli, both his fans and Indian team management might have heaved a sigh of relief. This comeback might have also boosted Kohli’s confidence despite all the negatives he was going through till now.
This knock and comeback also mean a lot for his RCB franchise as well as they may get a chance to play in the playoffs of IPL 2022. The appearance of RCB in the knockout round is completely dependent on the result of the MI vs DC match which is to be played on May 21. If Mumbai beats Delhi, then it will be a call to RCB for playoffs.
A handsome career defining this great very clearly
The current scenario is not something to which Kohli is used, he has had a handsome career against his name and has dominated for almost a decade with the bat. Appearing in 171 innings of 101 Test matches, the Former Indian captain has scored 8043 runs with a magnificent average of 49.95 hitting 27 centuries and 28 fifties.
Apart from that, he has also delivered his excellence in batting in ODI cricket. In 251 innings of 260 matches, Kohli has scored a massive 12311 runs with an average of 58.07 with 43 centuries and 64 fifties. He just needs six centuries to level with India’s legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar who smashed 49 ODI tons.
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