Former Indian skipper and the highest run scorer in the IPL history Virat Kohli has been having a poor run of form in the current IPL 2022 season to which his current RCB skipper Faf Du Plessis has defended him saying that ‘great players go through phases like this.’

Chasing a 145-run target, Bangalore’s top-order failed once more, losing four wickets for 58 runs and failing to recover. When asked about Virat Kohli’s slump, the RCB captain said that great players go through slumps and that they will support him to get back on track. Kohli was dismissed after only 9 runs while attempting a pull shot, but he got an edge and was caught. This season, the batter has struggled mightily, scoring only 128 runs in nine games.

“We have to try to change the batting order and see if that works. We have to try and play positively. That’s what we discussed after the last game, trying to get the best out of him [on Kohli]. Great players go through these things. Great players go through phases like this. We wanted him to get in straight away so that he doesn’t sit on the sidelines and think about the game. He is a great player and we still back him to turn it around and hopefully, it’s around the corner. It’s a game of confidence,” said Faf du Plessis in his post-match presentation.

Du Plessis has however admitted that his top batting order needs to deliver some match winning performances for them to win some crucial matches in the future.

“It’s pretty similar to the previous game we played, there is a little bit of inconsistent bounce. We gave 20 runs too many and the dropped catch cost us 25. 140 was a par score on that pitch. That’s the thing we need to fix [the top-order batting]. The basics of the game don’t change. You needed someone in the top four to bat through and we have not done it,” he further added.

Kuldeep Sen’s four-wicket haul and Riyan Parag’s unbeaten 56-run knock propelled Rajasthan Royals to a 29-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore at MCA stadium on Tuesday. Aside from Kuldeep, Ravichandran Ashwin and Prasidh Krishna each took three wickets.

(Inputs from ANI)