IPL 2019: How Kohli’s first hundred of the season will impact India’s World Cup chances

Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore has had a horror season in the 2019 IPL season so far. Kohli’s own form with the bat has not been spectacular either. The latter, in particular, was a worrying sign for an Indian cricket fan. But that seems to have changed for the better with his scintillating hundred against KKR today.

Kohli’s individual form is more important for an Indian cricket fan than the performances or the lack there of, of his IPL franchise. This is because of the fact that RCB has generally underperformed in almost every season. But the RCB captain has come out of that disappointment to lead India well in international credit, with a lot of success.

His lack of success as a captain in IPL has never stopped him from doing a great job as a captain of the Indian team. One has to keep in mind that Kohli is one of those captains who may not be the most astute tactician on the cricket field, but one who loves to lead by example.

His own exploits on the cricket field spurs him and his team on to greater heights. So, it is important that he remains in good form and continues to score runs. His form with the bat is much more important than the supposed deficiencies in his captaincy skills.

One must also bear in mind two other facts. Firstly, unlike his IPL franchise, he has two good tacticians in the India team in the former World Cup winning captain MS Dhoni and the vice-captain Rohit Sharma. To Kohli’s credit, he does not shy away from taking inputs from these two players on a regular basis, and often trusts their opinions at crucial moments. So, his captaincy becomes much more impactful when he leads India.

Secondly, a captain is only as good as his team. Unlike his IPL franchise, Kohli is fortunate to have a very well balanced Indian team in all formats, including the fifty-over one. One can argue with some justification that Kohli, the batsman is more integral to India’s chances in the upcoming world cup than Kohli, the captain.

So, regardless of how RCB fares in this edition, it is important for Kohli, the batsman to fare well as a batsman. From that perspective, Kohli’s brilliant hundred against Kolkata Knight Riders is great news for an Indian cricket fan, as an in-form and confident Kohli will be crucial to India’s chances for bringing home the glory.