Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) senior batter Virat Kohli has opened up on early days in his Indian Premier League (IPL) career. Kohli said he did not know anyone and realised his game is not at their level yet. He recalled wanting to prove himself after getting picked in the inaugural edition's mega auction.
“The first time I played in IPL, I was in complete awe. I hadn’t really met anyone before—except maybe Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh from our North Zone days—so walking into a dressing room with legends like Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid felt like fantasy land. But with that excitement came pressure. I knew my game wasn’t quite at that level yet, and I had to prove myself. That pressure eventually caught up with me in the first season. Still, the experience was unforgettable,” Kohli told JioHotstar ahead of clash against Delhi Capitals (DC).
Kohli said that batting down the order did not suit him. He had a better run when the second edition of the IPL was played in South Africa. It was not until the 2011 season, he feels his IPL journey began.
“In my first three years with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, I didn’t get many opportunities to bat in the top order. I was usually sent in lower down. So, I wasn’t really able to crack the IPL in a big way early on, apart from the occasional impactful knock. But the 2009 season felt a bit better for me. The pitches that year suited my game—the ball was coming onto the bat nicely, and I could play my shots more freely. It was definitely an interesting phase in my career. From 2010 onwards, I started performing more consistently, and by 2011, I was regularly batting at number three. That’s when my IPL journey really began to take shape,” the 36-year-old said.
Kohli on IPL's 'dynamic nature'
Kohli who is the leading run-scorer in IPL history is yet to lift the coveted trophy. He talked about the unique structure of the tournament which keeps the teams on their toes. It also pushes him to improve his game in the T20 format.
“IPL challenges you in a very unique way because of how the tournament is structured. It’s not like a short bilateral series, it spans several weeks, and your position on the points table keeps shifting. That constantly changing scenario brings different kinds of pressure. When you are at the top, there’s the pressure to maintain that lead. If you’re near the bottom, you need extra motivation to bounce back. And if you’re somewhere in the middle, where you need to win, say, three out of five games, even a single loss can suddenly add a lot of pressure. This dynamic nature of the tournament pushes you mentally and competitively in various ways other formats don’t. It’s also driven me to constantly improve and evolve my T20 skill set,” he said.
On April 7, Kohli became the first Indian batter to score 13,000 T20 runs. He is fifth in the list of leading run-scorers in the format. He will have a chance to move up in the top five run-scorers of the season when RCB host Axar Patel's DC.