"He Is In That Dark Place": Kevin Pietersen After Virat Kohli's Second Consecutive Duck In IPL 2022
Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen has said that the game needs Virat Kohli back in form.
- Vishesh Roy
- Updated: April 24, 2022 08:58 AM IST
!["He Is In That Dark Place": Kevin Pietersen After Virat Kohli's Second Consecutive Duck In IPL 2022](https://c.ndtvimg.com/2022-04/a30k4mes_virat-kohli_625x300_23_April_22.jpg?im=FaceCrop,algorithm=dnn,width=806,height=605)
Virat Kohli is going through a lean patch and recorded back-to-back golden ducks in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season. In the last game against SunRisers Hyderabad, the RCB batter edged the first ball he faced off Marco Jansen to second slip and his expression after the dismissal said it all. So far, in the ongoing season, Kohli has managed to score just 119 runs from eight games and his form is starting to become a concern looking how India have to play a T20 World Cup this year in Australia.
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has weighed in on Kohli's form, saying the Indian batter is in "that dark place" and one can just hope he finds form because the game needs him to score runs.
"I think he is at point and having been at that point in my career on a couple of occasions, it is not nice. It is a very lonely, lonely place especially when you have all eyes on you. Every single thing is Kohli, Kohli and Kohli. He is in that dark place, I just hope it ends quickly because the game needs him to score runs," Pietersen told Star Sports after the game between RCB and SRH.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said that it is tough to say anything when the batter has not faced even a dozen deliveries and he has gotten out on the first few deliveries. He also spoke about how someone in the dressing room needs to have a word with Kohli.
"It is tough to say anything when the man has not even faced a dozen deliveries. If you have faced at least dozen deliveries then you get to see whether the feet are moving, whether the man is playing across the line or there is a technical area where you need to do something. The last two dismissals I can put down to the fact that he hadn't got the runs till then. Looking to get off to an aggressive start, and the ball has been moving so hence he has been dismissed," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
"Therefore, it is question of somebody, may be Faf du Plessis, if they are sitting together and he is saying 'look, we know you can get runs, and you don't need to get the runs in the next over, you can get the runs over a period of 8-10 overs. If you stay there for 8-10 overs, maybe you will get 80, 90 or 100'," he added.
Royal Challengers Bangalore stumbled to a nine-wicket loss against SunRisers Hyderabad on Saturday. The Faf du Plessis-led side was bundled out for just 68 after Marco Jansen and T Natarajan returned with three wickets each.
In the end, SRH chased down the target with nine wickets in hand and 72 balls to spare. Abhishek Sharma and Kane Williamson played knocks of 47 and 16 to help SRH register a comfortable victory.