Another day, another Virat Kohli batting failure, and another former cricketer suggests that Kohli needs a rest. Latest in this line is former England skipper Michael Vaughan. With every disappointing show from the bat of Virat Kohli, the voices of him desperately needing some time off from the game grow louder.
On Sunday afternoon, as the crowd at the Wankhede hadn’t even settled in properly, Virat Kohli, on the first ball of the match versus Sunrisers Hyderabad, lobbed a leg-stump non-threatening delivery from Jagadeesha Suchith to short mid-wicket where SRH captain Kane Williamson was stationed and took an easy catch.
This was Kohli’s third golden duck of the season – and second vs SRH – as he looked shattered and nobody, from the commentary box to the RCB dugout to fans on social media, could believe that the man who holds the record for 973 runs in a single IPL season, and innumerable international batting records, is now struggling to middle the ball, to get off the blocks, to even get into double-digit without giving a scare or two.
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6 of Kohli’s 12 innings in IPL 2022 have been single digits while two others were of 12 runs each. Before this duck vs SRH, his two previous innings saw him score some runs but those too came at a really poor strike rate – 58 off 53 vs Gujarat Titans and 30 off 33 vs Chennai Super Kings – resulting in a negative impact on his team’s total. The talisman RCB batter now averages only 19 after 12 matches at a strike rate of 111.
Soon after Kohli’s early dismissal, Michael Vaughan opined that the former RCB and India skipper really needs a break, given Kohli has played non-stop high-level cricket in the past 12-13 years. The Ashes-winning captain reckoned a break will do loads of good to Kohli’s form in the middle.
“Sometimes a break from the game is all a player needs .. the amount of cricket these players play a break is as good as anything,” Michael Vaughan tweeted.
Sometimes a break from the game is all a player needs .. the amount of cricket these players play a break is as good as anything .. #IPL2022
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 8, 2022
