"There's Only One Condition" - Virat Kohli Reveals The Only Thing He Wanted In Order To Stay At RCB In 2011

Virat Kohli was the only player retained by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2011. He revealed that the then coach Ray Jennings had a chat with him and told him that they were looking to build the squad around him.

In order to stay at the franchise, Kohli asserted that he will be batting at No.3 from hereon as that was his usual role in the Indian team as well and he also wanted to shoulder more responsibility.

“I felt great; I did not shy away from it. I remember we were playing the Champions League in South Africa and Ray Jennings and Siddharth Mallya approached me, said that they were looking to retain only me and that they were looking to build a whole new squad around me.”

“I said that’s great, and that’s the opportunity I am looking for. I told them very clearly there’s only one condition that I will bat at No.3 and nowhere else. They said fair enough. I knew I can do something special for the team. I had no problem accepting the responsibility,” Kohli said in the RCB podcast.

“I was not able to play in the position that was my strength” – Virat Kohli

Back in the early days in the RCB camp, Kohli was playing at No.5 and below due to the presence of Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis. However, he was already playing higher up the order for India and wanted to replicate the same for the franchise.

“The first three years in the IPL, I always had the belief that I could do something special. I felt like the composition of the team, while they were amazing players, and rightly so in the right positions, I was not able to play in the position that was my strength.”

“For the first 3 years, it was on and off, a performance here and a performance there. It was not as free-flowing and consistent as I would have liked it to be. I was playing No.3 for India, and I was not getting to do it for RCB in the IPL. It was a bit of a strange situation for me because I felt like I could replicate my India performances here and maybe better,” Kohli added.

Kohli went on to bat at No.3 for RCB before moving up to the opener’s spot.

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