From 29 off 19, Virat Kohli moved to a sluggish 47 ball 59. Against Lucknow too, from a 25 ball 42, Virat Kohli finished with a 44 ball 61, going at a little less than run-a-ball on both occasions. His strike-rate after the powerplay has been a concern, with Virat Kohli struggling to force the pace against spinners, and with the field spread out. His running between the wickets has saved him in the past, but with par scores moving up, running like a hare alone can not always help as boundaries become very crucial.

Against the Capitals, he did come with intent, taking on Kuldeep Yadav after the powerplay. He made a fifty there too, and the fifty looked a lot more fluent, except for the fact that he was dropped once, allowing himself to continue his innings.

A main cause for the slow down has been due to Kohli getting stuck against the spinners. Against Punjab, he kept tapping the likes of Rahul Chahar for ones and managed to find the fence only when Punjab went back to pace in the 14th over with Arshdeep Singh. Slow surfaces at Mohali did play a factor. With the ball not travelling as fluently, Kohli slowed down, and was out close to the death overs, leaving the likes of Maxwell, who was out for a duck, with a lot to do in the back end of the innings.

His approach worked in Mohali, where the outfield was big, and the pitch was slow. It is likely to work going forward with surfaces losing their freshness as the tournament goes on. However, on flat tracks and grounds with short boundaries like Bangalore, RCB could and have had issues. The case against Lucknow was a clear example, with Virat Kohli’s slow down potentially costing them runs. They did make 212, which is a good score at any ground, but going deeper into the details, Virat Kohli went at a run-a-ball after the powerplay.

Virat Kohli though, as mentioned proved that his approach helped in Mohali, especially given his assessment of the pitch. Additionally, RCB have to contend with the fact that their batting line-up, barring Kohli, Maxwell, Faf and Dinesh Karthik is not the most experienced. With all those assessments in play, Virat Kohli’s slow down could be intentional. With his ability to change gears, and with tracks wearing, his approach looks sensible, but, the strike-rate and intent debate continues to range on with T20 batting evolving constantly.