“He has so much mental toughness that I am sure he will win us our upcoming crunch games” – RCB coach's support for Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has aggregated just 128 runs so far at an average of 16 and strike-rate 119.62 [Credits: IPL]

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) head coach Sanjay Bangar has backed Virat Kohli to overcome his prolonged rough patch and put in match-winning performances in the days to come. He managed a scratchy 9 off 10 against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) tonight (April 26), as RCB lost by 29 runs.

While voices calling for Kohli to go on a sabbatical have been growing stronger, Bangar threw his weight behind the former skipper, saying his mental toughness will help him come out of the rut.

“He is a very sensible player. He has watched many ups and downs... The way he prepares, he always gets himself out of his comfort zone and this is his speciality. And this is the reason he can overcome difficult situations.

"So I would just want him to use his fighting spirit and the way he’s played all his cricket to put the run of low scores behind. He has so much mental toughness that I am sure he will win us our upcoming crunch games,” Bangar, who also served as Team India’s batting coach, said at the post-match press conference.

Dropping Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli was promoted to the top of the order along with his successor Faf du Plessis. But he looked far from comfortable during his short stay. The ball flirted with his inside-edge and even fell just short of Daryl Mitchell at square leg on one occasion. The 33-year-old couldn't control a well-directed bouncer from Prasidh Krishna (2 for 23), lobbing it to Riyan Parag at point.

However, Sanjay Bangar confirmed that this would be RCB’s opening duo going forward.

“We opened with Anuj Rawat and Faf in eight matches. But this is the combination [Virat and Faf] we want going forward, because we want our best batters open the innings in crucial games. This is our thinking,” the former India opener stated.

RCB’s NRR (net run-rate) took a further beating but they stay in fifth spot with five wins from nine games. RR, on the other hand, moved to the top of the IPL points table with six wins under their belt.

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“We are not dependent on one individual” – Sanjay Bangar dismisses over-reliance on Virat Kohli

RCB were all out for 115 as RR registered the lowest successfully defended total (144) this season [Credits: IPL]

Let alone Virat Kohli, the entire RCB top-order has looked undercooked and come a cropper this season. Kohli (128 runs), though, has scored fewer runs than both du Plessis (278) and Rawat (129).

Asked if Kohli’s string of low scores is disrupting the momentum of the innings and piling pressure on the middle order, Sanjay Bangar reiterated that his proteges are battle-hardened to not rely on one individual. He further claimed that lively pitches have made life difficult for batters in the powerplay overs.

“Frankly, we are not dependent on one individual. Because if you see the games that we’ve won, everybody has chipped in, and that includes Virat in the couple of games earlier in the season. So it’s not that the team is dependent on one individual. And that’s what we are really looking to develop, in the sense that, anybody on his day can rise to the occasion and win the game for this team.

"We’ve already seen glimpses of Shahbaz, who can do that, DK has done it, Faf has done, even Maxwell gave this momentum in a couple of games. Wickets have been difficult to bat on in the first six overs and that’s where most top-order batters have struggled. But if we get that thing right, I think you’ll certainly see better performances for us,” he said in response to a Sportskeeda query.

RCB have three days to recover from two consecutive morale-sapping losses, as they take on the high-flying Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Brabourne Stadium on Saturday (April 30) afternoon. The Royals will lock horns with the bottom-placed Mumbai Indians (MI) at the DY Patil Stadium that evening.