India and RCB captain Virat Kohli has not been at his best in this year's IPL as his side became the first team to be eliminated from the tenth edition. Royal Challengers Bangalore finished last this season, winning just three out of a total of 14 matches- their worst ever performance in the 10-years of the IPL.
Towards the end of last year and the beginning of this year, Kohli was in outstanding form as he scored at least one double-hundred in each of the first three India home Test series against New Zealand, England and Bangladesh. But all of a sudden he lost his form during the Test Series against Australia.
Also read: India's Champions Trophy 2017 squad: Players' ODI stats (video)
Things got worse for the Indian captain after he suffered a shoulder injury during the third Test match against Australia. As a result, he missed the first few games for RCB but his return did not make much of a difference as he scored a total of just 308 runs. However, his RCB teammate Chris Gayle expects the Indian skipper to rediscover his form during the Champions Trophy 2017.
"He pointed out clearly, he is hurt like everyone else. As a leader, you would like to stand out and his personality was such that it was going to stand out as well. If you are in that kind of losing streak, you are going to be lost for words," Hindustan Times quoted Gayle as saying.
"You just have to get it out of your system as quickly as possible. He will be in a different environment with the Indian team, maybe that can help him get back in the groove again, among runs."
Along with Kohli, Gayle too struggled a lot with the bat for RCB this season. The big-hitting West Indian just managed to score a total of 208 runs this IPL season. However, Gayle did have a special moment in this IPL as he became the first batsman in the history of Twenty20 cricket to reach 10,000 runs.
Gayle also spoke about his future and promised to be back for the 2018 edition of the IPL.
"It has been good and bad for me in the 10 years. I missed a few years as well because of injury. At the same time, I have some great memories as well here. I definitely look forward to returning next year," Gayle said.
"It is the best thing to happen within cricket, IPL coming on board. All the players rejoice, enjoy it and benefit from it as well. I would like to continue to set IPL alight. I want to be the face of the entire IPL, give it some buzz as well."
