This was supposed to be Virat Kohli’s revenge tour. Without the burden of the captaincy for Royal Challengers Bangalore, a demanding post he had held since 2013, the assumption was that the 33-year-old would wind back the clock in the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League.
But, increasingly worryingly, Kohli just can’t rediscover his old magic, one that powered him into the best batter in the world across all three formats and the justified successor to legend Sachin Tendulkar.
Kohli has scored a modest 107 runs at 26.8 punctuated by a first ball duck when he tamely fell to Sri Lanka quick Dushmantha Chameera from Lucknow Super Giants. An ashen-faced Kohli trudged from the field in a look of disbelief that he had failed once again, while his loyalists are starting to perhaps show the first signs of wear with the master blaster’s highest score just 48 this season.
There have been whispers that Kohli, unfathomably, should be dropped although no one close to the scene is brave enough to suggest that to the firebrand. Leave it to Shoaib Akhtar, the former express quick from rival Pakistan who like his fearsome bowling doesn’t mind landing a blow or two.
“It's a performance based IPL franchise model. No one will be spared, not even Virat Kohli. Even he can be dropped if he does not perform,” Akhtar told Sportskeeda although the likelihood of Kohli being given the flick is as remote as India’s governing body agreeing to play Pakistan in bilateral cricket.
Though it must be noted RCB, despite the Kohli dilemma, have recovered nicely and are sitting second on the ladder in the 10-team IPL in the biggest franchise competition in the world.
But Kohli’s struggles have not just been confined to this tournament or merely a lean patch. It’s closing in on three years since he scored a century in any format and more than 100 innings. In the past six months, Kohli has quit the captaincies of each of India’s three teams.
After such a heavy burden, in the most demanding and suffocating leadership post in cricket, Kohli is feeling the strain with some influential figures calling for him to have a prolonged break.
"I am going straight to the main guy here. Virat Kohli is overcooked. If anyone needs a break, it's him," his former India coach Ravi Shastri, who remains an influential pundit, told Star Sports. "Whether it's two months or a month and a half, whether it's after (the) England (tour in July) or before England - he needs a break because he has got six-seven years of cricket left in him and you don't want to lose that with a fried brain."
Afer such a turbulent period for India’s favorite son, who doubles as the most influential figure in cricket given his outsized fandom, Kohli has had to endure criticism even from his compatriots in the media who normally wouldn’t be game to take him head on.
Even though Kohli had become low picking fruit suddenly, Shastri believed his former pupil deserved to be cut some slack. "When I was (India) coach at the time when this first started, the first thing I said is, 'You have to show empathy to the guys,'" Shastri said. "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."
Dips, even prolonged droughts, are not uncommon for great batters. Brian Lara once went two years without a Test century in the middle of his career while Tendulkar too endured a rut at around the same age as Kohli. Fellow superstar batter Steve Smith, who is one year younger than Kohli, has similarly slowed down.
It’s hard to consistently keep piling on the runs at the international level. Batting is exhausting, physically and mentally, and the grind is magnified when you’re Kohli who has the expectations of a billion populace every time he bats.
He’s also one half of arguably India’s most high-profile couple and he’s become a father not too long ago. Sure, he’s incredibly rich and famous, even receives the Wright Thompson treatment, but Kohli’s life is gruelling. Perhaps he’s just lost the slightest sliver of concentration, unwavering focus being an innate characteristic for his batting, but that’s enough for Kohli to look mortal at the crease, which had always been a sanctuary from his gaudy lifestyle.
“The guy has had so much to deal with, from marriage to baby to media scrutiny and all on his personal life, He is the biggest star on show," former England captain Kevin Pietersen said. "Virat Kohli needs to say, 'Cricket boots, for six months, I will see you later.' Turn off social media, go and get re-energised.”
Being Virat Kohli, suddenly, doesn’t sound very glamorous.
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