Virat Kohli is finding new ways to get out: Shoaib Akhtar on RCB star's struggles in IPL 2022

Virat Kohli has had a forgetful campaign in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 as he continues to struggle with the willow. The former RCB captain has been far from his best with the bat and has managed just one half-century so far this season. Expectations were high from Kohli ahead of the start of the season, however, he has failed to deliver despite being promoted as an opener in the batting line-up.

With no captaincy burden on his shoulders, Kohli would have hoped to pile on runs for RCB this season. However, he has a string of low-key scores in RCB's last few matches and has failed to get his team off to good starts at the top. He has so far scored only 216 runs in 11 matches this season at an average of 21.60 and a poor strike rate of just over 111.

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar recently gave his take on Kohli's lean patch this season and said the RCB stalwart seems under pressure and is finding new ways to get out in IPL 2022. However, Akhtar backed Kohli to bounce back and urged him to just look at enjoying his game.

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“Kohli is a great player. He has got nothing to prove. But he is finding new ways to get out because he is under pressure. He is trying too hard. He just needs to go out there and enjoy the game. Legends like Virat Kohli know how to make a comeback. But the world is pushing him down to his knees,” Akhtar was quoted as saying by Sportskeeda.

On Sunday (May 08), Kohli's disastrous run with the willow continued as RCB locked horns with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The batting maestro, who is the leading run-getter of all time in IPL history, was sent back on a Golden Duck on the very first ball of the match.

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Kohli was caught by SRH skipper Kane Williamson off the bowling of Jagadeesha Suchith without managing to open his account once again this season. However, RCB staged a brilliant recovery after Kohli's cheap dismissal as skipper Faf du Plessis (73) combined with the likes of Rajat Patidar (48), Glenn Maxwell (33) and Dinesh Karthik (30) to help the team post 192 runs on the board in 20 overs.