“Virat as frustrated as anyone but we know epic one is around the corner” - Mike Hesson on Kohli’s poor luck in IPL 2022

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) director of cricket Mike Hesson lamented Virat Kohli’s poor luck in IPL 2022 following his bizarre dismissal against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Friday. He, however, asserted that the senior batter is looking in good touch and that the "epic one" is just around the corner.

Kohli looked impressive during RCB’s chase against PBKS at the Brabourne Stadium. He eased his way to 20 with the aid of two fours and a six. However, he perished to Kagiso Rabada, gloving an attempted pull to short fine leg. The ball did not hit his bat and went off the body to the fielder. The on-field umpire did not raise his finger, but Ultraedge showed a spike as the ball passed the gloves.

Speaking after the game, Hesson said that Kohli looked very good against Punjab and added:

“He was aggressive, and he is doing everything off the park as well in terms of making sure he prepares well. I thought today was going to be his day but once again… it hits the other side of the thigh pad and goes down and he gets a single.”

Pointing out the batter’s poor luck, Hesson stated:

“He hasn't had a huge amount of huge fortune especially when he has got himself set, when he has got himself in. He is as frustrated as anybody. We thought today was going to be the day."

The 47-year-old does not think Kohli’s poor form has been plagued by technical issues and backed the RCB star to come up with a big knock pretty soon. He added:

"Look he is the best we have ever had in terms of RCB. He hasn't scored the volume of runs he would have liked. Today (Friday) he looked in really good touch. It is not a technical thing. As I said, he is putting in a lot of work behind the scenes. He looked in really good touch today. He was unfortunate. I thought we were going to see something special. Virat is as frustrated as anyone but we know that the epic one is around the corner. We have got a huge game coming up. So there is no reason why it won't be in a few days' time."

Kohli’s dismissal against Punjab was followed by that of skipper Faf du Plessis (10) soon after. Bangalore crumbled to 40 for three in the chase of 210 and eventually ended on 155 for nine.

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“He is seeing the lighter side of it” - Du Plessis on Kohli’s unusual dismissals

RCB captain Du Plessis also threw his weight behind Kohli and stated that the 33-year-old is in good spirits despite his unusual dismissals in IPL 2022. He said that the under-pressure batter believes a good knock is around the corner. Du Plessis commented:

"He is seeing the lighter side of it. Every single way you can think possibly to get out. Just how the game works, doesn't it? Sometimes when you are under pressure, the game finds ways to keep you under pressure. What you can really do is keep working hard, keep up a good intensity, a good attitude. He played some really good shots tonight. Obviously he would have liked to have kept going but he is handling it really well. Tough patches are difficult for all of us but he is in good spirits. He also believes it is around the corner."

Kohli has registered three golden ducks in IPL 2022. In 13 matches, he has scored 236 runs at an average of 19.67 and a strike rate of 113.46.

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