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Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Virat Kohli looked rusty on his return to competitive cricket after more than a couple of months. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri feels that Kohli needs more game time to find his form as he missed the entire Test series against England due to personal reasons.
Kohli got just six balls to play in the powerplay overs He was dismissed in the 12th over of the innings by Mustafizur Rahman on his Chennai Super Kings (CSK) debut. He scored 21 runs from 20 balls and failed to help RCB recover from a collapse in the powerplay overs.
Steve Smith felt that Kohli getting a handful of deliveries during fielding restrictions made the situation difficult for him.
"It's bizarre. Virat Kohli only faced six balls in the powerplay after playing the first ball. Kohli faced a really difficult situation there, losing 3 wickets pretty quickly. He tried to rebuild with Cameron Green and got out at the wrong time," Smith said while commentating during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 opening match.
"He was looking to find his rhythm early on and I think he looks in good form," Steve Smith added.
Shastri agreed with Smith and said that it happens when someone is away from the game for a long time.
"It will take time when you are out of the game for that long, no matter how long you bat in the nets. You need some match time. I imagine that he was a bit rusty and just when he got going he was dismissed by a good catch in the boundary," Ravi Shastri said.
"I think just the time he spent in the crease today will stand him in good stead," he added.
RCB suffer comprehensive defeat
Despite Mustafizur’s four-fer, the 95-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik helped RCB post a fighting total of 173/6 on the board.
RCB continued their losing streak in Chennai as they lost to the defending champions by six wickets. Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja got the home side over the line with eight balls to spare.
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