File photo of Virat Kohli.
It has been a long wait for Virat Kohli since the batsman scored his last century in any form of cricket. The Indian skipper, who enjoyed a successful series at home against England but failed to reach the three figures in the 12 matches that were played, is now sweating out at the training ground for a gruelling IPL 2021 season that kicks off on April 9.
His team Royal Challengers Bangalore, who reached the playoffs last season, will be looking to end their agonising barren title run since the inception of the league in 2008. And former Indian wicket-keeper Saba Karim believes the 32-year-old Indian batting star wants the IPL title more than a century of his willow.
"If you ask Virat Kohli about what he wants from this IPL, whether he wants to score a century or if wants RCB to be the champion, I feel Virat Kohli will definitely say that his dream is for RCB to be the champions and he has a significant contribution in that," said Saba, who played 35 ODIs and a solitary Test for India before his career ended abruptly due to an eye injury.
"I don't think whether he scores a century or not will make a difference to Virat Kohli's career. Yes, the difference will be made if Virat Kohli grabs the elusive IPL trophy."
The former BCCI general manager also praised Kohli's decision to open the batting; giving him the opportunity to build long innings as RCB kick-off their IPL campaign in Chennai against defending champions Mumbai Indians.
"It (playing on spin-friendly tracks in Chennai) will definitely be challenging, but the good thing is that Virat has decided to open the batting. It will be a very big opportunity for him to post a big score," said Karim.
