With five wins in seven matches under their belt, it has been quite an impressive Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 campaign for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Unfortunately for RCB, the remainder of the campaign had to be suspended due to Covid-19 outbreak inside the IPL but skipper Virat Kohli would be pretty content with what his side has shown so far.
Reflecting on Kohli’s performances, both as a captain and a batsman, former India cricketer Irfan Pathan told Star Sports: “If you talk about this season, Virat Kohli the captain will be happier than Virat Kohli the batsman.”
“The way the entire team has responded, the way the combination of Virat Kohli and Mike Hesson has worked, and the hard work they put in for the auction,” Pathan added.
Irfan was full of praise for RCB’s recruitments, be it the decision to splash the cash on Glenn Maxwell or trade-in players like Daniel Sams and Harshal Patel from Delhi Capitals.
“They had gone after Maxwell. Before the auction, in the trading also they put in a lot of effort. We have spoken about Harshal Patel but they got Daniel Sams also, which means they thought if they had got the opportunity to play in Bangalore, the left-arm pacer Daniel Sams will be useful although he did not come of use. Harshal Patel did all the work,” Pathan further said.
In a season where RCB were looking like one of the most promising sides, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the BCCI to suspend the remainder of the campaign. Though the board intends to restart the league later this year, RCB would rue the fact that so many of their players who were in top form could lose momentum by the time the season resumes.
“Where the tournament has stopped, the RCB fans will be a little disappointed because AB de Villiers was in good form, Maxwell was in good form, the team was doing very well, the bowling was very good,” Pathan said.
“It was about to be ‘Ee Sala Cup Namde’ for them, at least from the fan’s perspective, so it is expected that they will be a little disappointed but it has been a good year for them till now,” he signed off.
