Kohli’s willow sparkles for a brief period, Mangesh, Abhinandan and Krunal among the wickets

RCB’s practice game. Image: Revsportz

The bat was placed on the right side of his shoulder. The customary twirl of the willow too was on display. And he looked around to check the field placements in RCB’s practice game. However, it wasn’t your typical Virat Kohli experience where he would blend fours and sixes with singles and twos. The first ball he faced from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kohli took a step or two out and crunched a wristy lofted drive over the mid-on fielder.
 
If that was a shot of statement, then a pull off the front foot while facing Mangeh Yadav said something about his intent. That bit of bravado was followed by a wristy drive via the long-off region. Unfortunately, Kohli tried one shot too many and was soon caught at point. As it was just a practice game, he perhaps was attempting to land a shot on almost every ball. But as an onlooker, it was quite evident that Kohli is in good nick.
 
Phil Salt, his opening partner, was in modest form in the 2026 T20 World Cup. The dashing opener would have hoped to start the IPL season on a better note. It wasn’t to be as his on-the-up drive ended up in the safe hands of the lone slip fielder. It was your archetypal Salt: When everything is going his way, those on-the-up drives would result in boundaries.
 
Rajat Patidar has also not been in fine form. In the practice game, too, he could only loft one off Suyash Sharma into the hands of the fielder stationed at long-off. Tim David was dismissed once, but he returned to bat and essayed a couple of hits off Krunal Pandya. As did Venkatesh Iyer. In his second chance, Iyer smacked a confident stroke over deep square leg.
 
Among the bowlers, Krunal Pandya was the most impressive of the lot. His bowling smarts to watch the feet of the batter once more turned out to be his trusted ally, with the likes of Devdutt Padikkal and David succumbing to him.  The delivery to Padikkal, in particular, was top drawer as from round the wicket, he cut down the room. The left-hand batter had manufactured room in order to find a bit of space between the bat and ball, but to no avail.
 
Mangesh, the all-rounder, who could play in the opening game in the absence of Yash Dayal, bowled well in fits and starts. The skiddy left-arm pacer generated a hint of inswing with the new ball. With the old ball, he supplemented yorkers and low full tosses by shifting from over to round the wicket to keep the batters rather quiet. The left-arm angle also helped his cause. But  as soon as he banged it on a shorter length, he was taken for runs. In the harsh world of IPL, he might also need a Plan B, alongside the yorkers, in the end overs.
 
In the final analysis, there were enough bright spots, along with a few concerns, for the RCB camp. Mangesh bowled enough overs, while Krunal impressed. Abhinandan Singh plucked a couple of wickets upfront. Among the batters, Kohli played a few sumptuous shots, with David and Venkatesh finding a bit of groove in their respective second outings. Patidar and Salt, however, would preferably want more batting practice.
 
So, what could be the highlight of the session? In a largely empty stadium, the thwack of the willow meeting the leather while Kohli was batting.

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The post Kohli’s willow sparkles for a brief period, Mangesh, Abhinandan and Krunal among the wickets   appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.