Virat Kohli fails!
Royal Challengers Bangalore have yet again failed to make it to the play offs of the IPL. The team which has perhaps the greatest run scorer of our generation, in Virat Kohli and the greatest batsman of our times, in AB De Villiers, has consistently failed to leave their mark on the IPL. For about half a decade, they had Chris Gayle with them too. But if seen at a team level, Virat Kohli has been a failure. Despite all the runs, all the glamour, eventually it boils down to results and those haven’t come.
In a 8 team competition, RCB have finished 6th having won 6 games and lost 8. Despite heroics from ABD, the team has come up short. The post-match talk, Kohli really had a go at his middle order batsmen. But if the failure is as consistent as RCB have faced, there is a larger issue. The squad is perhaps not good enough. Perhaps as a captain, Virat Kohli doesn’t value bowling as much. It does show in their team selection at the draft. The onus is really on the batting to bail them out. However, like the Sunrisers Hyderabad have shown, bowling remains an integral part of T20 cricket.
Perhaps, that is the failure of RCB as a franchise. It may not even be down to just Kohli. But he represents all that RCB is, flashy, brash and successful at least on paper. However, much like their owner, they have deep rooted problems. And as a neutral, who has loved how Virat Kohli has just demolished all that has confronted him, it is nice to see him fail at something. Tells us he is human.
Also, he will conquer it. Just a matter of time.
