IPL 2022: 'This is not the Virat Kohli that we know' - Virender Sehwag's brutally honest opinion

Virat Kohli's horrific IPL 2022 has come to an end. Meanwhile, Virender Sehwag has given his brutally honest opinion about him and his recent performance.

Image credit: Twitter

Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli has not had the best season during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. His turbulent form has been continuing for far too long, seemingly costing RCB another chance at its maiden IPL title glory. He has managed 341 runs in IPL 2022 in 16 innings at a meagre average of 22.73 and a strike rate of 115.98. It includes a couple of half-centuries and a top score of 73. He remains without an IPL century since IPL 2019. Meanwhile, legendary former Indian opener Virender Sehwag is baffled by Kohli's prevailing poor run.

Image credit: PTI

Speaking to Cricbuzz, Sehwag cited, "This is not the Virat Kohli that we know. It is a different Virat Kohli playing this season. Otherwise, the number of mistakes he has committed this season, he hasn't done in his entire career. It can happen when you are not scoring runs. You try looking at various options to get out of a bad patch, which leads you to get dismissed in various ways. This season, Kohli has been out in all possible ways."

"When you are out of form, you tend to try to middle every delivery. If I can middle the ball, a batter thinks, I will gain more confidence. However, Virat did leave a lot of deliveries in that first over [vs Rajasthan Royals' Trent Boult], but this is what happens when you are out of form. You tend to chase the deliveries wide outside the off-stump. You start following each of them. So, when you have luck going your way, even in bad form, you will not edge it, but this didn't happen here," Sehwag added.

Sehwag further criticised Kohli's tendency to poke the balls moving away. "The delivery that he got out to had pace and bounce. So, he could have either left it or just gone hard at it. It might have flown over the keeper's head, but what he did was give simple catch practice. It was as if he was giving catching practice as we do for the slip fielders during the net session," he continued.

"He has certainly disappointed everyone. We all expect that the big player will perform in a big game. He disappointed not only himself but also his legion of fans and the RCB fans," concluded Sehwag.