If India are to defend their ICC Champions Trophy title, one thing is certain, they are going to need Virat Kohli to fire with the bat.
While India's dependence on Kohli is not quite as severe as the country's on Sachin Tendulkar in the 1990s, there is little doubt that much of India's success in the here and now, particularly in limited-overs cricket, is very dependent on Kohli.
Be it chasing or batting first, Kohli is usually the man to make his mark with the bat and give the rest of the batsmen around him the confidence to do what they do best.
When Kohli plays one of his ridiculous knocks, India invariably win, particularly in a chase.
So, there would have been a few worried faces going around as Kohli struggled to bat like Kohli usually does in IPL 2017.
Now, his stats aren't bat at all – normal batsmen would take those stats without thinking twice – but for a man of his calibre, it has been a disappointing season, individually and as a team, especially if you compare it with his not-human-at-all batting figures of IPL 2016.
Virat Kohli stats
IPL 2017: Matches: 10. Runs: 308. Highest: 64. Average: 30.80. Strike rate: 122.22. 50s: 4. 100s: 0.
IPL 2016: Matches: 16. Runs: 973. Highest: 113. Average: 81.08. Strike rate: 152.03. 50s: 7. 100s: 4.
RCB finished IPL 2017 with the spoon that nobody wants – the wooden one. And Kohli will know the reason behind RCB's last-place finish in the IPL 2017 points table is his lack of this-is-insane runs along with that other batting freak in the Royal Challengers Bangalore setup – AB De Villiers.
Co-incidentally, both these batsmen were coming back from injuries when they, after missing the first couple of matches, took their place in the RCB lineup in this season's Indian Premier League.
Also co-incidentally, both the batsmen scored brilliant half-centuries in their first match back – De Villiers against KXIP and Kohli against MI.
After those bright starts, though, it all went a little downhill, even if Kohli finished with four half-centuries to his name in 10 matches, which isn't too shabby at all.
Kohli's injury was a fairly serious one – a shoulder problem that kept him out of action for about a month, with the India captain also missing the final Test against Australia, which his team went on to win to also clinch the series.
The big question as we inch closer and closer to the Champions Trophy – which is essentially a mini-World Cup and a great pre-cursor to the 2019 World Cup, which will also be held in England – is if we should be worried about the Kohli's form?
While there is no doubt that India will struggle if Kohli struggles – remember Kohli did not have the greatest of times in the Test series against Australia either – it will be extremely surprising if the right-hander continues his inconsistent run.
Consistency, especially in the blue colours of India, is what defines Kohli. No matter what the situation, what the odds, what the opponent, Kohli, invariably, delivers with the bat.
And as much as he might have struggled for RCB, in terms of runs and results, you feel when he wears the India blue again, the drives will come and so will the pulls, and the flicks and the straight lofts and the rest of the strokes that make every single opposition bowler want to tear their hair out.
Kohli was an unstoppable beast in 2016 – across all formats – and while it was always going to be unfair to expect the same kind of form from the great man in 2017 as well, don't bet against him making the ICC Champions Trophy his own.
