‘There’s going to be a different challenge for Kohli, he'll have to adjust': Gautam Gambhir

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir said Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers will be under pressure as there will be a ‘different challenge’ for them when IPL 2021 resumes on September 19 in the UAE. Kohli and de Villiers are not Royal Challengers Bangalore's most experienced cricketers but their most prolific run-scorers too. 

Gambhir said RCB captain Kohli will have to quickly adjust his game and get into T20 mode. Kohli is coming from a long Test series against England where the focus was to handle the swinging red ball but in IPL, it will be about scoring runs as quickly as possible.

“See there’s going to be a challenge for Virat and there’s going to be a huge challenge for AB de Villiers as well because he will be coming into the tournament without playing any cricket at all. 

"Virat Kohli will have to adjust really quickly because there’ll be hardly any time for him to get used to it. From the five-Test-match series to the T20 format, and AB as well, because these guys need to get runs if they have to have a chance to first qualify for the playoffs and then probably go on to win the title,” Gambhir said on Star Sports' show ‘Game Plan’. 

The IPL begins on Sunday and RCB, who are currently at No.3 in points table and stand a good chance of making it to the playoffs, will play their first match on Monday against KKR.

The RCB will have some exciting new additions to their squad including leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga and Singapore batter Tim David. The skipper is looking forward to meet the new recruits.

"I've been in touch with everyone. We've had discussions over the last month or so, a little longer than that with the replacements, who's coming and who's not. Eventually, we ended up replacing our key players with some top-quality cricketers," the RCB skipper said.

He believes that replacement players will fit into the system perfectly.

"Our key players will be missed, and they are a part of the family, but the people coming in as well have great skill sets, especially for these conditions.

"So, I'm very excited to see them, with the whole group at practice and certainly very excited to resume a very good season that started last time around," he said.