Aggressive Virat Kohli turns defensive in RCB due to conditions, reckons Parthiv Patel

Virat Kohli’s over-the-top captaincy style and aggression on the field has been a regular feature in the Indian set-up from the past three years, since taking over from MS Dhoni. On top of that, with a plethora of bowling options in the setup-Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, it has allowed the Indian skipper to be more aggressive with his bowling options and field placement. 

However, when it has boiled down to his captaincy stint at the franchise level, his aggression has taken a back foot, with a more subdued and defensive approach. RCB’s keeper, Parthiv Patel expressed his opinion on the same, admitting that the change in captaincy style is due to the conditions in play at the Chinnaswamy stadium alongside the team in play. Unlike the national team, Patel opined that Kohli does not have a world-class bowling unit at his disposal, with conditions that favour batsmen more than bowlers. 

“Sometimes (a captain’s aggressive nature) depends upon what kind of players you have in the team. So when Virat is leading Team India you will find him to be a different captain. He has got Bumrah, Shami and good spinners on the roster so he is always thinking wickets,” Parthiv said during former India cricketer Aakash Chopra’s show ‘Aakash Vani’ on his YouTube channel, reported HT. 

“For RCB, he tries to make the team perform as per their capability. Also, where the team is playing matters a lot as well. If you aren’t getting help from the wicket you tend to take a defensive approach.

The Gujarat keeper also talked about the conditions in Bengaluru, where more often than not teams try to restrict the batsmen under 180-190 runs, starkly higher than the other stadiums. He admitted that all these factors come into play, which leads to the 31-year-old Delhiite taking a more defensive approach in the RCB unit. 

“For example, if we keep them under 180-190 then we can try and win the game but if we try to be aggressive and concede in excess of 220 then we will be out of the game altogether. So for this reason, I feel Kohli is a bit aggressive when he is captaining Team India in comparison to when he is leading RCB,” he added.