Pune: Virat Kohli’s form for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 remains a cause for concern but the batting stalwart was backed by RCB skipper Faf du Plessis who on Tuesday said ‘great players go through phases like this’.
Chasing a 145-run target, Bangalore’s top-order failed again as they lost the four wickets for 58 runs and failed to recover from that. Talking about Kohli’s lean patch, the RCB captain said that great players go through the rough patches and they are going to back him to turn things around.
Kohli was dismissed on just 9 runs while attempting a pull shot but he managed to get an edge and got caught. The batter has been going through a very rough patch this season with just 128 runs in just 9 matches.
“We have to try to change the batting order and see if that works. We have to try and play positively. That’s what we discussed after the last game, trying to get the best out of him [on Kohli]. Great players go through these things. Great players go through phases like this. We wanted him to get in straight away so that he doesn’t sit on the sidelines and think about the game. He is a great player and we still back him to turn it around and hopefully, it’s around the corner. It’s a game of confidence,” said Faf du Plessis in a post-match presentation.
Du Plessis admitted that his top-order batters are lacking consistency and his side will have to fix the problem sooner.
“It’s pretty similar to the previous game we played, there is a little bit of inconsistent bounce. We gave 20 runs too many and the dropped catch cost us 25. 140 was a par score on that pitch. That’s the thing we need to fix [the top-order batting]. The basics of the game don’t change. You needed someone in the top four to bat through and we have not done it,” he added.
A four-wicket haul by Kuldeep Sen and an unbeaten knock of 56 runs by Riyan Parag powered Rajasthan Royals to victory by 29 runs over Royal Challengers Bangalore at MCA stadium here on Tuesday. Apart from Kuldeep, Ravichandran Ashwin took three wickets while Prasidh Krishna settled for two.
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