The tale of Kohli and Williamson: what is going wrong for them in IPL 2022?
The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League has been a rollercoaster for many cricketers. While some gained their form and put out their best performance, some failed to do so and had a dismal run throughout the tournament. Some of the most experienced players failed to put up a show this season, and the names that top the list are Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson.
The former Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper stepped down from his captaincy role last season and also stepped down as the captain of the national side before coming into IPL 2022. Kohli’s form has been a matter of concern for quite some time now, and that was one of the reasons behind him taking the decisions regarding the leadership, to do away with the pressure and focus on his game.
But his plans haven’t started working for him yet. While he played an amazing knock in RCB’s first game of the season, he failed to impress in other games and was dismissed for low scores. Meanwhile, apart from Kohli, the Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Kane Williamson has also failed to impress this season. One of the key players of the team, Williamson has managed to score only 208 runs in 12 games so far at an all-time low average of 18.91 and an all-time low strike rate of 92.86 in the IPL.
After SRH faced two defeats in their first two games of the league, they bounced back stronger to win five matches in a row. But Williamson’s role with the bat was limited and he was majorly seen as a captain and not an opening batter. In his last 10 outings, he has five scores in single digits.
While Kohli will be free of the leadership duties playing for India post the IPL, Williamson will have the added pressure of getting back to his form and leading New Zealand. Both of them have given their 100% for whichever teams they play for, but are going through a bad phase. It is just a matter of time before they return to their form and play their original game for their national side and bounce back stronger in the IPL next year.
