3 reasons why Virat Kohli's success can be attributed to his RCB stint

The Virat Kohli-led India Under-19 side's World Cup victory in 2008 coincided with the highly popular Commonwealth series victory by India in Australia. The first IPL season was also supposed to begin that year and hence there was a lot of hype around the young Indian players who were successful then.

In the auction, all the franchises were given the option of picking two U-19 players. Delhi Daredevils had the first opportunity to pick from the U-19 pool and they went for Delhi pacer Pradeep Sangwan. RCB picked up captain Kohli and after 11 seasons, Virat Kohli remains as the only player to represent only one franchise in all the eleven seasons of the IPL.

Today, on his 30th birthday, Virat stands as one of the best batsmen in international level and is already considered as a batting legend. His captaincy has been terrific so far and Virat has turned out to be the poster boy of not only Indian cricket but also World cricket.

Virat Kohli's journey to the top has been possible solely because of his hard work and determination. However, it should be noted that Virat is also lucky to be born in this era. The latest techniques in training, various fitness equipment, and variety of coaches have been at Virat's disposal to help in his development.

One of the most influential factors in his rise has been the Indian Premier League. Virat started as a teenager for Royal Challengers Bangalore and has emerged as the main man for the franchise now. On that note, a part of Virat's success can be attributed to his stint with RCB.

Here are 3 reasons why he can attribute his success to RCB:

#1 Interaction with the legends of the game

As a teenager, Virat can consider himself lucky to play alongside the likes of Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Kallis, Boucher, Pieterson and Ross Taylor amongst others. When Virat was developing into an India regular, players such as Muttiah Muralitharan, Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Daniel Vettori, and AB de Villiers accompanied him.

Just being with these masters of the game in the dressing room would have given Virat an insight into their minds. All his aspects of the game have had a notable influence from these cricketers. Hence, Virat has been able to adapt to all conditions across formats and has also started sharing his knowledge to youngsters just like how he was fed with.

#2 Being a part of the ups and downs of the franchise

Despite a strong side, RCB has failed to cross the line

Virat has seen more of failure than success at the franchise in terms of success in winning the trophy. Even after 11 seasons, the Bangalore-based franchise has failed to lay their hands on the trophy. However, despite their trophy-less record, RCB has one of the largest fan bases in the country.

There is no better lesson than failure and Virat has had a number of failures within the franchise. Although a failure as a batsman has been limited, he has had to endure situations when his team has failed to win the final in many occasions. That has happened despite them dominating the entire season. Similar failures have happened multiple times within a match too. Such experiences have hardened Kohli and have helped to develop his character.

#3 Leadership skills and experience in the shortest format

Virat's confidence increased due to his time at RCB

Not many players get a chance to captain a quality side which is a mix of youth and experience. Only if one gets an opportunity to lead the country will he get such a chance. However, Virat had this opportunity even before he led his country. He captained the RCB squad which had many international stars in it. Although he was jittery in his start, he became a matured captain later on. This experience has been helping him with India.

Virat was branded as an ODI player and he was not known for his attacking skills. He was once ommitted from India's World T20 squad too as he was not able to score at a good strike-rate. However, Kohli is one of the best T20 batsmen in the world right now and all his practice and experience during the IPL has helped him big time.