"Good bit of time off from his cricket" - Mo Bobat earmarks 'fresh' Virat Kohli to have a good IPL 2024
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) director Mo Bobat is excited to see a 'fresh' Virat Kohli go out there and play his best cricket when they take on the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2024 opener on Friday. The England team's former performance director observed that Kohli has been hitting the ball brilliantly.
Kohli hasn't played any cricket since January as the former RCB captain skipped the five-Test series against England for the birth of his second child. Hence, fans can expect plenty of hunger from him when RCB face the defending champions in Chennai on Friday.
Speaking ahead of Friday's showdown, the 40-year-old stated that the brief time off from cricket will bode well for Kohli.
As quoted by News18, he said:
"Virat is in a good place. He is an absolute champion cricketer. He is coming in fresh is what we are excited about. He's had a good family time. He's hitting the ball brilliantly. Kohli has had a good bit of time off from his cricket. He's in a great frame of mind. He's had good family time, he's fresh with his energy and he's looking forward to getting involved."
The 35-year-old is also the leading run-getter in IPL history, aggregating 7263 runs in 229 innings and has played for RCB since IPL's inception. With 973 runs in the 2016 edition, the right-hander holds the record for most runs in a single season.
"We've got a fantastic group of players" - Mo Bobat
With an opportunity to work with RCB for the first time, Bobat believes there is nothing left for the team to do except to go and express themselves in the best possible manner. Bobat said:
"This is my first year, same for Andy Flower. We're pretty excited about what we're getting into here. RCB has a very rich history and it's important to be cognizant of that history. But this is our time. It's our time in the sun. It's our opportunity to go out and play. We've got a fantastic group of players, we're in good shape, got no injury concerns, fully fit squad, happy to make most of this opportunity in front of us."
Despite reaching the final thrice, the Royal Challengers haven't managed to win the title. The Faf du Plessis-led unit will hope to end that drought this season.