IPL 2020: Virat Kohli Inspires The Team To Stay In The Contest - Simon Katich Lauds The Skipper's Leadership

Head Coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Simon Katich had words of admiration for the kind of leadership displayed by the captain, Virat Kohli. After Bangalore’s loss to Hyderabad, there are questions raised on Kohli’s captaincy as he has led the team for 8 trophyless seasons.

RCB were knocked out of IPL 2020 on Friday in the eliminator by SRH in a last-over thriller. While RCB’s bowling has been admirable this year, it is their batting which was a letdown. Kohli himself was heavily criticized for his strike rate of 121 due to his over-cautious approach, especially in the middle-overs.

Kohli is highly professional and very well respected by the group: Simon Katich

Simon Katich on Friday said that they are fortunate to have Virat Kohli at the helm of their team. The Australian regarded Kohli as someone who is highly professional and respected within the group. Katich said that the right-hander leads by example on and off the field. The coach observed that both the skipper and his wife, Anushka Sharma gelled with the team very well.

Speaking to the press, Simon Katich said, “We are very fortunate to have spent these last 11 weeks, for the first time working with him. What we have seen is someone who is highly professional, someone that is very very well respected by the group. Not just for what he does on the field but for the time he spends around the group. Both he and his wife Anushka spend a lot of time around the group and the team room, and socialising with everyone.”

The former opener opined that Kohli is always motivating the rest of the players in any game situation. The 45-year-old coach is proud of the way his team has fought hard throughout the season- they remained in the contest till the very end against SRH as well despite defending a low total.

The coach continued, “The other thing we saw which is very visible on the field is that we have got a leader who, no matter what the game situation is, inspires the other 10 guys to follow him and stay in the contest.”

“One thing we are proud of this group throughout the season is we fought hard and hung in there right till the end. Even last night, when it looked like, we didn’t have enough runs, we fought right till the end. We are very proud of it and Virat can take a lot of credit for that,” Simon Katich added.

He also said that Kohli spends a lot of time with the youngsters. He was like a mentor to young Devdutt Padikkal and helped him grow as the tournament progressed. Padikkal scored 473 runs with 5 half-centuries.

“What we saw is someone that is very invested in this group, spending a lot of time with the younger players, particularly, we paired him up with young Padikkal as the mentor and we saw the growth in him throughout the tournament. Having spent the time speaking and batting with Virat Kohli is invaluable for his growth,” Simon Katich said.

RCB for the 13th season failed to grasp the coveted IPL trophy despite reaching the final thrice.

Also Read: IPL 2020, Qualifier 2: Delhi Capitals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad – Match Prediction