Royal Challengers Bangalore's talismanic batter Virat Kohli began his preparation after joining the team's camp at MA Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday, March 18.
Kohli left for Bengaluru from Mumbai on Sunday night and arrived in the city in the early morning. Incidentally, former RCB captain did a video call with women's team skipper Smriti Mandhana to congratulate her team for winning their maiden WPL triumph by defeating Meg Lanning-side Delhi Capitals in the final.
Virat Kohli has been out of action for over two months for the birth of his second child, son Akaay Kohli in London. Kohli missed the entirety of the Test series against England due to personal reasons, which was not disclosed by BCCI until Kohli revealed it.
Kohli is set to return to action when Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2024 opener in Chepauk on March 22. In a viral video, Virat Kohli can be seen training hard on the ground and doing fielding drills.
Virat Kohli has been part of Royal Challengers Bangalore since the inaugural edition of IPL in 2008. He went on to establish himself as the face of the franchise. The 35-year-old was appointed as full-time skipper of RCB in 2013 and led the team in nine IPL seasons until he stepped down from captaincy duties.
Under the leadership of Kohli, Royal Challengers Bangalore reached four playoffs, including a Final in 2016, where they lost to first-time champions SunRisers Hyderabad at the franchise's home ground in Bengaluru.
'Have not been off the media radar for two months': Kohli
Former Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli feels to be back to playing cricket after a long break, adding that he hasn't been able get off the radar of the media while he was away from cricket for the birth of his second child.
"It is really good to be back, firstly playing cricket. Also, exciting to come back to Bangalore for the start of the IPL season. Similar emotions, similar feelings." Kohli said in a video shared by RCB on Instagram
"I have not been off the media radar for two months, I have been into normalcy you can say. I am pretty happy to be back, I hope all the fans are happy and excited as well." he added.
Virat Kohli is currently the leading run-scorer in the history of IPL, amassing 7263 runs, including 7 centuries and 50 fifties, at an average of 37.24 and a strike rate of 130.02 in 237 matches.
