Captaincy burden might have been weighing Virat Kohli down, he’ll be more dangerous now: Glenn Maxwell

Royal Challengers Bangalore all-rounder Glenn Maxwell feels that Virat Kohli will be back at his best without the captaincy burden in the upcoming IPL 2022 season. The 33-year-old Kohli had announced his decision to step down as RCB captain during IPL 2021, and Faf du Plessis has been named as the new skipper for the upcoming season.

Kohli has not been at his best in the international circuit and stepped down from T20I and Test captaincy for India as well. Going by the policy of one captain for all formats, the selectors named Rohit Sharma as the full-time skipper in ODIs and the time has come for Kohli to rediscover his best form with the bat. The right-hander has dominated the game across formats in the last decade and he will have to bring his A-game back in the upcoming IPL season.

Glenn Maxwell recalls early days of playing against Virat Kohli

Maxwell stated that stepping down from captaincy will definitely help Kohli to get back his form and warned the opponents of the damage he could do with the bat once the latter gets into his zone. He recalled the early days playing against Kohli when the latter used to be at the face of his opponents and felt that he is no longer the kind of personality.

“He knows he’s handing the captaincy over, which I think is potentially a big burden for him. It might have been something that’s been weighing him down for a while and now that he’s been able to release it, it might be dangerous news for opposition teams,” Maxwell told RCB podcast.

“It is amazing for him to be relaxed a bit and actually enjoy the next few years of his career without any of that sort of external pressure. I think playing against him in earlier days, he was a fiery competitor, getting in your face. He’s always trying to impose himself on the game. Impose himself on the opposition,” Maxwell told RCB Podcast.

Maxwell also mentioned that Kohli has transformed into more of a measured person in terms of his emotions. “Something I’ve noticed more from him this year is he’s been really measured with his emotions. He’s actually been really measured with his decision-making. He’s certainly really surprised me and probably how close we’ve both gotten to each other as well this year. Being able to talk about the game in a calm manner,” he added.