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Former Team India keeper-batsman Robin Uthappa admitted that the extra burden of captaincy might have prevented Virat Kohli from expressing himself as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain.
As the burden was lifted from his shoulders, the batsman found a new meaning in his existence with the team. Virat Kohli was the captain of RCB from 2011 to 2023.
Robin Uthappa explains why Virat Kohli-led RCB was not successful in IPL
During this period, the franchise’s star-studded line-up picked up several moments of spectacular performances across multiple games, but remained searching for success in the Indian Premier League. Virat Kohli’s performance as team captain and in the last few seasons in a non-leadership role has been huge.
Robin Uthappa observed that when Kohli was the leader of the team, he tried to play most of the games with a different approach. Instead of focusing on the team game, he mostly tried to win matches for RCB on an individual basis, which might not have allowed the batsman to touch the pinnacle when he was at his peak for Team India.
“This era of expressing himself more has unlocked him. But not having the captaincy anymore has unlocked him the most. When he was the captain, he was so driven to make the team win on his own. Because of that, he played a certain way to give the results he wanted for himself and for the team. Today that doesn’t exist for him,” said KomboxTV YouTube channel.
Virat Kohli turns spiritual to find purpose in life
Kohli’s batting average in IPL 2022 was just over 22, one of the lowest marks of his career. Uthappa said that Virat was under pressure due to consecutive bad seasons and was looking for a ray of light. Without proper aim the batsman also lost his form. Later, he found his true soul through spirituality.
“It took a while, and I remember there was a period of wilderness for him, where he was trying to figure out where he was in the whole scheme of things within the group. Once the captaincy was taken away from him, for a while it felt like he was feeling lost and purposeless.”
The former cricketer said, “This affected his appearance and behavior a bit. After this he started soul searching and became even more spiritual. Then, finally he found a place where he could live.”
Virat Kohli’s development is not over yet
Kohli took his batting to the next level in IPL 2023. In four consecutive seasons, his batting average was over 50. Kohli’s development as a batsman continued in this year’s IPL. The batsman, who has an average strike rate of 134.79 in the league, performed with a strike rate of 165.84 in IPL 2026, and scored a total of 675 runs.
At the age of 37, when most cricketers choose to stay away from professional cricket, Virat Kohli is still in the race to play in the ODI World Cup in 2027.