Veteran Australian cricketer Tom Moody has some advice for Virat Kohli heading into the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Moody urged Kohli to unleash his inner beast and recapture the form that saw him dominate the tournament in 2016. The IPL 2024 kicks off on March 22, with Kohli's Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) taking on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Chennai. This will mark Kohli's return to action after missing the recent Test series against England. Moody highlighted Kohli's past success and believes he needs to adopt a more aggressive approach in the upcoming season. With this renewed focus, Moody is confident Kohli can reassert his authority and shine brightly in the IPL.
Would like to see Kohli boss the game: Tom Moody
“Would like to see him take the game on and boss the game because he has got the game, he has got more than the game as one of the greats. When he does that, he looks unstoppable. I keep getting flashbacks of 2016 when he had a bumper year and you just couldn’t bowl to him. No one was looking at the strike rate then because he was just controlling the game and no one could bowl to him at that point,” Moody told ESPNCricinfo.
“With the Impact Sub now in play and the reinforcements RCB have got with their batting, would love to see Virat go out there and boss the game. He can do it because you are not asking someone to do something they are not capable of doing. He can do it and just tear this tournament apart,” former SRH coach further added.
Virat Kohli's performance in the IPL has been a mixed bag in recent seasons. While his team, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), hasn't reached the playoffs in 2023, Kohli himself displayed impressive individual form. He scored 639 runs in just 14 matches, averaging over 53 runs per innings with a strike rate close to 140. Notably, he slammed two centuries and six fifties in that season.
Kohli's masterclass in IPL 2016
However, this isn't Kohli's best IPL performance by far. In the 2016 season, he was unstoppable. The Delhi-born batsman shattered records, amassing a staggering 973 runs across the tournament. His average of over 81 runs per innings and a strike rate exceeding 152 were simply phenomenal. That season saw him score a remarkable four centuries and seven half-centuries. Kohli's dominance extends beyond just one exceptional season. He reigns supreme as the IPL's highest run scorer with a total of 7,263 runs accumulated across 237 matches. This includes a record-breaking seven centuries, the most by any player in IPL history. He stands alone as the only batsman to surpass the 7,000-run mark in the tournament.
Even with Kohli's consistent brilliance, the IPL trophy has remained elusive for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Their opening match against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be a tough test, especially considering RCB's historical struggles against CSK in Chennai. Since 2008, they haven't managed to defeat the five-time champions on their home turf. Despite the historical odds, RCB boasts a strong batting lineup with the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Faf du Plessis, Cameron Green, and Rajat Patidar alongside Kohli. Faf du Plessis, the RCB captain, was the second-highest run scorer in the last IPL season with 730 runs, while the explosive Maxwell added 400 runs at a blistering strike rate of nearly 184. This batting firepower could be the key to breaking RCB's Chennai curse.
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