Kohli of old, RCB of new

VIRAT Kohli was livid with himself. In an attempt to go for his third consecutive boundary off Matheesha Pathirana, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter had failed to time it and ended up strolling for a single at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday night.

- GOMESH S

So, he expressed his frustration by slamming his bat on the pads as he reached the non-striker's end. Up on the scoreboard, it read RCB 104/2 in 10.4 overs. In isolation, it might not read as bad on a black soil surface which was perhaps on the slower side than the one that was used for the Mumbai Indians clash. But one look a little adjacent to the team total, it read: Kohli 27* (26).

On a night where every other RCB batter was going at over 160 strike rate, Kohli was struggling to get to run-a-ball. Three balls before that single against Pathirana, it looked worse. Kohli was 16 off 23. It had been that kind of a night for the RCB opener. But this is not a new phenomenon.