After India’s T20 World Cup win last year, Rahul Dravid gave a team talk. The former India coach started off with Rohit Sharma before turning to Virat Kohli. “All three whites ticked off. One red to go. Tick it,” said Dravid, as Kohli listened intently before breaking into a smile. About 12 months down the lines, things have changed in the Indian dressing room.
Dravid is now the head coach of Rajasthan Royals, while Kohli is a retired Test cricketer. Ticking “the red”, a World Test Championship winner’s medal to be precise, will remain a void in his illustrious career. As far as league cricket is concerned, there’s an unfinished business as well. Kohli hasn’t won an IPL trophy yet. This year, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru all but in the playoffs, is probably his best chance.
The IPL is returning after a ten-day hiatus in the wake of a thaw in cross-border skirmishes. At Chinnaswamy on Saturday evening, Kohli will be the showstopper and Kolkata Knight Riders will be the sideshow. No surprise in that though, for Kohli, even after his Test retirement, is the biggest thing that the game can offer. His prima donna status might make some people in the Indian team set-up uncomfortable, but the fans enjoy it.
KKR are the defending IPL champions, but they will play the game as also-rans. Mathematically, they still have a chance to qualify for the playoffs, with 11 points from 12 matches. Practically, though, even their die-hards supporters have written the season off. Two wins in their remaining two matches will take them to 15 points – unlikely to make the playoffs door ajar.
Failing to chase down 111 against Punjab Kings at Mullanpur was the real spoiler, confidence-wise. Losing to an out-of-form Chennai Super Kings at home was the last straw.
What went wrong for KKR? In hindsight, putting all their eggs in one basket at the mega auction – Rs 23.75 crore for Venkatesh Iyer – was a mistake. Iyer has scored 142 runs from seven innings and hasn’t bowled an over yet in this IPL.
Getting too concerned over Eden Gardens pitch and letting that become an excess baggage didn’t augur well for the team either. And then, there was tactical indolence – Andre Russell’s batting order being a case in point. The Jamaican had scored 72 runs in his first seven innings at a strike rate of 131. He has scored 95 runs at a strike rate of 207 in his last two outings after being promoted up the order.
“You know, nothing much to lose from here. Actually, we just thought we could have had a better tournament as a team. We were discussing that, but nevertheless, we lost a few games in the middle. If you think about those crucial games, you wish now that you had won those games,” KKR batsman Manish Pandey said at the pre-match press conference.
It felt like the team has accepted reality. Now, amid the Kohli frenzy at Chinnaswamy, it’s probably time for KKR to look ahead. Some tweaks are needed and it might start with replacing the head coach, Chandrakant Pandit.
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