Virat Kohli - "IPL gave me the platform to show my capabilities, compete against the best"

Virat Kohli has struggled to make a consistent impact in IPL 2022 for Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, he has credited IPL for allowing him to showcase his capabilities.

Image credit: BCCI

It has not been the ideal 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) for Virat Kohli. Playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), he has struggled at scoring runs consistently, despite having quit the captaincy duties after IPL 2021. However, he feels that the tournament has allowed him to showcase his credentials.

In IPL 2022, Kohli currently happens to be RCB's fourth-highest run-scorer, gathering 186 in ten innings at a mediocre average of 20.67 and a strike rate of 116.25. It includes a half-century, while his top score happens to be 58. Meanwhile, Kohli feels that the competition has also let him compete against the best over the years.

"I think outside of playing for India, IPL gave me the platform to show my capabilities, compete against the best in the world and share knowledge with them. I think that was the most important thing that added a different dimension to my understanding of the game. This helped me move ahead in a very progressive manner," Kohli said on the Inside RCB show.

"I was picking brains of people that probably I wouldn't have come across otherwise on things like how to play in different conditions and what mindset they have. You know, people have different ways to succeed so it can't be just one template. So, I used to be so excited and grateful for the opportunity to pick their brains and just learn from their day in and day out and that's for me has been the standout feature of IPL," added Kohli.

Kohli has been playing for RCB since IPL 2008. Since then, he has been a sensation for the franchise and has scripted numerous records with the side. However, he has failed to lay his hands on the coveted trophy. Yet, he has decided to maintain his loyalties to the franchise.

Speaking on his RCB loyalty, Kohli explained, "For me the understanding that the loyalty with RCB like how I follow my life is far greater for me than the fact that five people in the room will say oh finally you win the IPL with whoever xyz. You feel good for five minutes, but then, in the sixth minute, you could be miserable with some other issues in your life. So, it is not the end of the world for me."

"There are always going to be 'but', you literally can't live your life like that and I just carry out doing my own things and I actually honestly don't even bother about a third person beyond myself and Anushka discussing things. For me, nothing else, or no one else's opinion, matters at all," concluded Kohli.