Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) former skipper Virat Kohli's struggle with the willow continued in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) as he was dismissed for a golden duck in a clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Tuesday (April 19).
So far in the tournament, Virat has amassed just 119 runs in the seven matches that he has played with a lowly average of 19.83.
Meanwhile, the former India head coach Ravi Shastri sympathised with the 33-year-old high-profile batter who is going through a lean patch with the bat and asked Kohli to take a break from competitive action before or after India's tour of England, adding that the RCB star's brain is fried amid the constant scrutiny and the burden of expectations.
"When I was coach at the time when this first started, the first thing I said is 'you have to show empathy to the guys'. If you're going to be forceful, there is a very thin line there, from a guy losing the plot as opposed to him hanging in there and giving his best. So you have to be extremely careful," Ravi Shastri told Star Sports.
"Whether it's 2 months or a month-and-a-half, whether it's after England or before England.
"He needs a break because he has got 6-7 years of cricket left in him and you don't want to lose that with a fried brain. He is not the only one. There might be 1 or 2 in world cricket going through the same. You need to address the problem upfront," Shastri said.
Kohli got out for a golden duck in RCB's 18-run win over LSG in Match 31 of IPL 2022 on Tuesday. Kohli threw his bat at a wide delivery and was caught at point. The star batter looked hopeless as he was unable to believe what he had done in the middle.
Virat Kohli in Indian Premier League 2022:
41 off 29 vs PBKS
12 off 7 vs KKR
5 off 6 vs RR
48 off 36 vs MI
1 off 3 vs CSK
12 off 14 vs DC
0 off 1 vs LSG
Expectations were rife from Kohli before heading into the 15th edition of the IPL after having given up the captaincy of RCB. However, over the last six months Kohli has gone through a lot as he had to quit T20I captaincy, then he was sacked as ODI skipper and consequently he relinquished Test captaincy to focus on his batting.
With still plenty of matches in hand, RCB's Kohli will look to get his mojo back and help his team qualify for the playoffs and eventually lift their maiden IPL trophy.
