“Go back 10 years, when you’re not married and don’t have a kid” - Michael Vaughan advises Virat Kohli to rediscover his youthfulness

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has urged out-of-form batter Virat Kohli to show some youthfulness and play with a sense of freedom like he did 10 years ago. According to Vaughan, if the 33-year-old Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter can get through the tricky initial period, he can score big runs.

Kohli’s poor form has been one of RCB’s major issues in IPL 2022. The senior batter was dismissed for a golden duck for the third time in the ongoing edition during the franchise’s previous match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

The former Indian skipper’s form will be under the scanner again when RCB take on the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Friday, 13 May. Sharing an advice for Kohli, Vaughan said on Cricbuzz:

“I hope Faf du Plessis has spoken to him and told him - ‘Go back 10 years, when you didn’t have this profile. You’re not married and don’t have a kid. You’re going out there to whack the ball and have some fun. Forget your age, forget what you have done’.”

Vaughan further opined that things could turn around for the struggling cricketer if he gets off to a start. He added:

“If he gets to 35, I reckon he can go big. It’s just those initial 0-10 that he’s been struggling with. If he can get away and show a little bit of that youthfulness, he’s going to be dangerous.”

The 33-year-old has scored 216 runs from 12 IPL matches at an average of 19.64 and a strike rate of 111.34.

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“If he gets you 35 off 20, that’s done the job” - Shaun Pollock on Virat Kohli’s form

Chipping in with his views on the Indian star batter’s form, former South African captain Shaun Pollock stated that RCB should not expect a huge contribution from him. He explained that a quickfire 30-35 should be enough because they have other batters contributing. Pollock commented:

“From the Virat perspective, you’ve almost got to say to him - ‘you don’t have to go and win the game for us’. Just a certain contribution. It’s quite difficult to talk about. If he gets you 35 off 20 balls, in many ways that’s done the job because of the way they have played this season. They have become reliant on the other guys. He doesn’t have to get a 100. Just take a bit of pressure off him.”

Kohli has registered only one half-century in IPL 2022 so far. He scored 58 off 53 against the Gujarat Titans (GT) on April 30, a knock which came in a losing cause.