“If you try to help, you just get in the way” - Daniel Vettori reckons RCB should give Virat Kohli space to sort out form issues in IPL 2022

Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Daniel Vettori feels that the team management should stay away from advising Virat Kohli over his poor form in IPL 2022.

According to the former left-arm spinner, the 33-year-old will have to find his way out of the rut on his own, using his experience and determination.

Virat Kohli was dismissed for a golden duck for the second match in a row on Saturday against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Mumbai. He pushed at a delivery that was angled across him by Marco Jansen and nicked the ball to the slips.

Asked if Virat Kohli needed some help in the form of advice, Vettori replied in the negative. During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, the former New Zealand captain opined:

“It will be up to the individual. It will be up to Kohli and his experience and his understanding of himself; how he will manage his way out of it. If you try to help, you just get in the way and you’ll probably say the wrong thing and alienate him. It’s easier just to say, ’Virat, we trust you completely, and we’ll see you at the backend of the tournament, winning games for us’.”

Not just Virat Kohli, the entire Bangalore batting machinery crumbled against SRH on Saturday. They were cleaned up for 68 in 16.1 overs. Vettori, however, does not feel that the shabby performance would affect RCB’s confidence going ahead in the tournament. He explained:

“I don’t think it happened, in their minds. These games seem to happen for every team once a tournament. Players do have a short memory and RCB has been playing some very good cricket. Their planning would go on to the next game rather than debriefing this one.”

RCB were hammered by nine wickets at the Brabourne Stadium as Hyderabad chased down the target of 69 in just 8 overs.

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“The perfect performance” - Daniel Vettori on SRH’s domination of RCB

Speaking about SRH’s brilliant bowling effort, Vettori admitted that it was the perfect performance and couldn't have been planned any better. He elaborated:

“Perfect performance by SRH. If you draw up performances as a coaching staff or as a captain, this is what it looks like. It started with that over from Marco Jansen and everyone else played their part. There was some great catching from the likes of Nicholas Pooran. When you are chasing a small total, you can go one or two ways. Abhishek Sharma came out and just took the game away.”

After Hyderabad bundled out Bangalore for 68, Abhishek Sharma smashed 47 in 28 balls as SRH boosted their net run rate with an emphatic win.