What would Virat Kohli bring to the Challengers line-up?

Virat Kohli, who was ruled out for the first three Royal Challengers Bangalore matches has taken Instagram to announce his return to the team on the 14th of April. The excitement and happiness amongst the fans are not short of massive celebrations in and around Bengaluru. The Royal Challengers fan have missed their captain dearly as it has been their batting in all the three matches that has let them down.

It is going to be difficult for Daniel Vettori to change the combinations and permutations with Shane Watson and Chris Gayle, not in a very impressive form for the Challengers. Shane Watson, who captained the side for the opening three fixtures failed to make much impact with both the bat and the ball. His captaincy too was a one for the question as his bowling changes were not a bit effective against the Glenn Maxwell led Kings XI Punjab.

However said and done, Vettori has to choose between Vishnu Vinod and Mandeep Singh to pave the way for the return of their captain and warrior Virat Kohli. It is almost but confident that the Kerala batsman Vishnu will be replaced by the in-from Kohli. It is going to be difficult for the veteran left-arm spinner to choose the four foreign players that will feature in the team after the changes in the previous matches.

What would Virat bring to this line-up?

Batting:

A question which would be certainly stupid to ask of especially with a player of such caliber as Kohli. He ended the previous year’s tournament as the leading run-scorer not only in the particular season but also in the history of the league. He had outscored Suresh Raina, who had previously led the scoring chart.

Last year was one such instance where we could see that one player is certainly more than enough to carry a team on his own, as Virat Kohli’s four centuries carried the entire team on his back. Unfortunately, a rare failure in the finals against the Sunrisers meant that the skipper would not lift his maiden IPL trophy.

Kohli, although not only outscored all the other batsmen in the tournament but also outshone all the players present in the tournament, a feat which is unmatchable. Kohli’s incredible summer form would not only help him for the Champions Trophy that follows the long Indian Premier League but also would help the Challengers to post big totals.

It was AB de Villiers, who single-handedly pulled the entire team on his back the last game they played against the side from Punjab with an outstanding 89 runs. The boundaries were definitely short when the South African was on strike, and the bowlers were shown no mercy. He smoked nine sixes with just three boundaries, a feat only the likes of De Villiers can hold.

The knock also showed the inconsistency and lack of experience present in the Challengers batting line-up in the absence of top-guns Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli. It is almost evident that Shane Watson would be on his way out if his performances remain below-par.

Captaincy:

This was one such department where Kohli was much needed for the Challengers. Shane Watson was announced as the captain of the franchise just a day before the opening game at Hyderabad. The Australian all-rounder has failed to capitalize on the opportunity given with irregular performances in the tournament.

AB de Villiers was most likely to take over the captaincy from the Australian post his recovery, but the management decided to continue with Watson, who was heavily criticized for his team selection as well as the bowling changes.

There were very few chunks of praises for the Australian after he took a gamble on bowling the left-arm spinner Pawan Negi in the final over of the game against the Delhi Daredevils with the in-form Rishabh Pant on the batting crease. However, the decision turned favorable for the all-rounder as Negi bowled a fabulous last over to hand the Challengers a narrow win over the Daredevils.

Kohli’s aggressive captaincy alongside his street-smart bowling changes would only help the Challengers to improve on their current form. The Indian batsman did a brilliant job in the recently concluded home season against Australia where he led the team to an incredible comeback series victory.

It would only be surprising to see how he would transform a wounded Challengers team into a marvelous team just like he did the last time around in IPL 9. The season’s beginning has been a bit of deja-vu for the Challengers as they have failed to contain the sides in the death overs and also failed to capitalize on the good starts.

Expected Playing XI for Royal Challengers Bangalore against the Mumbai Indians:
Virat Kohli (c), Mandeep Singh, AB de Villiers, Kedhar Jadhav(wk), Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Pawan Negi, Iqbal Abdulla, Yuzvendra Chahal, Tymal Mills, Billy Stanlake