Indian batting stalwart Virat Kohli, who has been out of action since January, is expected to join the Royal Challengers Bangalore camp later this week on March 16 or 17, reports have indicated. Kohli will return to competitive cricket through the tournament, which is expected to be a brilliant edition for many reasons.
But RCB fans will be more eager to see their club legend Virat Kohli return to the M.Chinnaswamy for the first time since January 2024. Kohli played his last match for the Indian team on January 17 in the third and last T20I of the series against Afghanistan in which he had served for a golden duck from pacer Fareed Ahmed. Indian captain Rohit Sharma had scored 121* in the same match whose result was decided after playing two consecutive super overs.
BCCI source confirms Virat Kohli will return this week
According to sources close to the BCCI, Virat Kohli is likely to join the RCB side in the coming days and this week. During a recent preview show for IPL 2024, Star Sports revealed that Kohli will join the rest of his teammates on March 16 or 17, 4-5 days before RCB plays their opening match against Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram . stadium on March 23.
The 36-year-old had been on leave since earlier this year due to the birth of his second child with his wife, Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma. On February 20, Virat Kohli took to his official Instagram account and revealed that he had been blessed with a baby boy whom they named Akaay on February 15, 2024.
“With abundant happiness and our hearts full of love, we are happy to inform everyone that on February 15, we welcomed our baby Akaay and Vamika’s little brother into this world. We seek your blessings and good wishes at this beautiful moment in our lives. We ask that you respect our privacy at this time. Love and gratitude: Virat and Anushka.” – Kohli posted on Instagram.
Virat Kohli will be back after quite some time and his aim will be to make up for lost time, hopefully with a couple of centuries in IPL this year. Last season, Kohli scored 639 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 139 and an average of 53.25. His 600+ runs included 2 sensational centuries and 6 half-centuries with a best of 101*.
This season, he will aim to build on his 7,263 IPL runs, the most by a batsman in the tournament’s history. Virat Kohli will have to rewind the clock and play similarly to how he did in the 2016 season, when he scored 973 runs, the most in any season. If he does so, Kohli will reach the 8,000-run mark, from which he is just 737 runs away.
Complete RCB squad for IPL 2024
Faf du Plessis (C), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh, Saurav Chauhan