Kolkata: Former Indian swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag believes that Virat Kohli, the Indian as well as the Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper knows how to deal with a rough patch and would come back to form with a bang.
Sehwag, who is currently the mentor of the Kings XI Punjab side, said,
“It (a bad patch) happens with every player. Even if you look at the great Sachin Tendulkar, he hasn’t played the same (way) every year. Even your (media) questions keep changing time to time. When time changes, form also changes. The hallmark of a good player is who can come out of bad form and Virat knows very well how to come back into good form.”
Going by his standards, Virat Kohli has had a very poor IPL tournament. With the bat, he has scored just 250 runs so far with a highest score of 64 at an average of just over 27. His poor form has been one of the reasons for Bangalore’s poor run in the tournament.
The former stylish right-hander also said that he doesn’t think that the Indian players playing in the IPL would be tired going into the Champions Trophy, while answering a question on the same.
Good run rate required for playoff berth
The Kings XI Punjab, of whom Sehwag is the mentor, put on spirited performances in their last two encounters against Kolkata and Mumbai. They emerged victorious on both these matches and they would have to go past a Rising Pune Supergiant side to have any hopes of making it to the playoffs.
Sehwag feels that their team has to maintain a good net run rate and also depend on the results of the other matches, if there are chances of proceeding forward into the knockout stages.
Said Sehwag, “Our qualification depends on other teams. If (Rising) Pune (Supergiant) lose and (Sunrisers) Hyderabad lose, or KKR (Kolkata Night Riders) lose then we have a chance to qualify. We have to maintain the run-rate and only then we can qualify.”
(With inputs from PTI)