Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ke assistant coach Malolan Rangarajan ne IPL 2025 ke beech ek badi baat kahi hai. Unhone bataya ki in-form opener Virat Kohli ko kuch extra karne ki zarurat nahi hai. Haan, Virat ko aksar strike rate ko lekar criticize kiya jata hai, lekin Rangarajan kehte hain ki Kohli ek ‘genius’ hain jo hamesha apne game ko upgrade karne mein lage rehte hain.
“Pichle season sirf Virat nahi, poori team desired strike rate pe nahi khel rahi thi. Team ne milkar is issue ko address kiya. Hum sabne honestly apni galti accept ki aur uss par kaam kiya. Yeh ek teamwork ka result tha,” Rangarajan ne pre-match press conference mein bataya.
“Jahan tak Virat ka sawal hai, unhe extra practice ki zarurat nahi hai. 20-25 saal ka experience hai unke paas. Woh ek genius hain. Unhe bas yeh decide karna hota hai ki kis bowler ko kaise tackle karna hai. Aur yeh unka game awareness clearly dikhata hai,” unhone add kiya.
“Har training session aur match mein unka attitude dekhne layak hota hai. Woh hamesha yeh sochte hain ki aur kya better kiya ja sakta hai. Yeh unki dedication ko dikhata hai. Isliye unhe kisi specific physical kaam ki zarurat nahi padti,” Rangarajan ne kaha.
Rangarajan ne ye bhi bataya ki RCB poore confidence ke saath league stage ke second half ke liye tayyar hai. Abhi tak RCB ne 9 matches me 6 jeet haasil ki hai aur points table me teesre number par hai. Ab unka agla mukabla Delhi Capitals (DC) ke saath hai. Pichhli baar jab dono teamein bhidi thi, toh DC ne KL Rahul ke zabardast 93* ke dam par RCB ko hara diya tha.
“Ye poori team ka collective effort tha ki humne accept kiya ki pichle saal hum acche nahi the. Is saal humare beech koi aisi specific conversations nahi hui. Har koi jaanta hai ki kya kar sakte hain aur kya nahi. Second half ke liye humne kaafi pehle se preparation shuru kar di thi, aur is waqt poore group mein optimism ka mood hai,” Rangarajan ne bataya.
Agar hum stats ki baat karein toh Kohli ka strike rate iss season 144.11 hai, jabki pichle season me unka strike rate 154.69 tha. RCB ke andar Phil Salt (168.30), Devdutt Padikkal (156.46), aur Rajat Patidar (148.99) ka strike rate Kohli se better hai. Fir bhi, Kohli ne ab tak 9 innings mein 392 runs banaye hain, average 65.33 ka hai aur 5 half-centuries bhi maari hain. Orange Cap ke liye woh strong contender hain.
Delhi Capitals ke khilaf bhi Virat ka record zabardast hai — 29 innings mein 1,079 runs, average 49.04 aur 10 half-centuries! Toh DC ke against Kohli se ek aur dhamaka dekhne ko mil sakta hai!
