Former RCB Coach Jennings Points Out At Major Reason Behind Kohli's Mediocre Captaincy Record In IPL

Former RCB coach Ray Jennings believes that Kohli at times backed the wrong group of players, which could have seriously hurt RCB’s chances in the previous editions of the IPL.

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has etched his name as one of the most successful captains in Indian cricket courtesy a staggering win percentage he enjoys in all formats of the game while leading India over the past 4-5 odd seasons. Under Virat's captaincy, the test team reached the very pinnacle in the ICC Test rankings and stands atop the newly devised ICC World Test Championship. India under Virat Kohli have also been a formidable force in both forms of white ball cricket -ODI and T2OIs as well. However, Kohli does not enjoy the same success while captaining Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL and his record is a pale shadow of his stellar international record as captain. Giving his take on what could be the major reason behind a rather mediocre record for Virat Kohli in the Indian Premier League, former RCB coach Ray Jennings believes that Kohli at times backed the wrong group of players, which could have seriously hurt RCB’s chances in the previous editions of the IPL. Jennings, who coached RCB between 2009 and 2014, said he wanted a certain set of cricketers to don a particular role in the team but Kohli had different plans.Jennings also pointed out the fact that Virat was a bit of a recluse keeping to himself and described him as a loner. “If I have to look back then I would say that in IPL there used to be 25-30 players (in the squad) and it was the coach’s duty to look after all the players. Sometimes he was a bit of a loner in the team. Sometimes, he backed the wrong players. But, you can’t blame him for that. I wanted certain players to bowl or bat in certain conditions/situations but he had different ideas,” Jennings told Cricket.com. RCB had their best years in the league under the mentor-ship of Jennings, reaching the finals of the tournament twice, explained how leading an IPL side could be so much different captaining an international team. “See, IPL is very different from international cricket. In six weeks’ time, some players can pick form and some may go awry. So, someone in the group needs to be there all the time. When I was there certain players should have played more but he has different views. However, that is in the past and it’s nice to see him maturing day by day and he will start winning IPL trophies,” he said. “We shouldn’t forget IPL is a game of small margins. He has made it to the semi-finals (playoffs) and final and he will definitely achieve a lot more success in the coming years. Sometimes, criticism is that he doesn’t enjoy time with the players. But, I can understand that since a captain has a lot on his plate. Also, the auction is a very important factor (in the team’s performance),” he said. The South African, who worked in close proximity with Virat Kohli during his formative years in the IPL, heaped praises on the IPL’s current highest run-scorer, believing the RCB captain’s best is yet to come. “Virat Kohli has always been an unbelievable cricket brain. He sets very high standards (for himself) and we went along despite one or two problems. You needed somebody around Virat to guide him (at that point in time). Of course, he and I bumped a few times but he is a good guy and a very quick learner. Nice to see him grow as a player and now as a captain. His mannerism is great. His best is yet to come,” Jennings said.