‘Kohli is coming in fresh, which is what we are excited about’

Chennai: Virat Kohli’s physical and mental freshness will play a crucial role for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2024, feels the team’s director of cricket, Mo Bobat.

Kohli is coming off a two-month break from competitive cricket. He skipped the five-Test series against England at home due to personal reasons.

“We all know he is an absolute champion cricketer. He is coming in fresh, which is what we are excited about,” Bobat told reporters during the pre-match press conference here on Thursday.

“Good little bit of a time off from cricket; he is in a great frame of mind. He has had a good family time and is fresh with energy.

“He is looking forward to getting involved (in the season). He has been practising for the last few days and has been hitting the ball brilliantly.”

Asked if the inexperienced bowling attack would be a disadvantage to the side, Bobat brushed aside such talks.

RCB has six specialist bowlers who have played international cricket. While Alzarri Joseph, Lockie Ferguson, Reece Topley, Mohammed Siraj, Karn Sharma and Akash Deep have played international cricket, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Dayal, Rajan Kumar, Mayank Dagar, Swapnil Singh and Himanshu Sharma are relatively inexperienced.

“I don’t believe we have an inexperienced attack. Our overseas bowlers have a lot of international and IPL experience. The Indian quicks also have decent IPL experience, while in the spin department, we have a lot of potential in Himanshu Sharma and Mayank Dagar. Also, Karn Sharma has a lot of experience.

“We are very happy with our squad and what we have. We did a lot of work during the auction,” he stated.

RCB will open their campaign against defending champions CSK here on Friday and Bobat said that regardless of the surface, it will be vital for the team to play to its strengths.

“We know the history of the surface. We know what it’s like here and what sort of things are favourable in these conditions. We will have a look at the wicket again tomorrow.

“It’s always the case of balancing your strengths with the conditions in front of you. We know our strengths and possess a strong bowling attack,” he added.