Virat Kolhi should just focus on his batting: Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, has advised a struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli to focus on getting back to the outstanding form displayed for India in the recent months so he can lead his franchise out of a tough situation.

With an average of just 17 in Indian Premier League (IPL) 7, the pressure is on Kohli to perform as the tournament heads into the business stage, especially that RCB are struggling to qualify for the play-offs with four wins from ten games. In his first appearance as Guest Editor, Ganguly said that captaincy is related to performance and that Kohli was getting caught up in the dynamics of captaincy.

"For a young captain like Kohli, he has to put his mind into batting. Too much preparation thinking, too much planning stresses the mind out before the start of the game. I can see that happening to Kohli just before the start. Nobody is a born captain. He can benefit from the likes of Daniel Vettori, Allan Donald who can work around him and get him into a state of mind where he stays fresh," said Ganguly.

Ganguly cited the example of Gautam Gambhir and how his performances have changed the fortunes of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) who have won three in a row. "If one looks at his performances in the first five games and his performances in the next five games, he has scored runs and he has captained the side very well. He has been more authoritative on the field and he has taken decisions on the spot and his performances have been completely different. He chatted with me about seven-eight days ago and I asked him to look at captaincy in a different way," he said.

"He has got the knack of improving quickly. I am sure that the way he has learned about his batting, it will take him little time to develop the mindset as a captain. It is time for Kohli to just go out and score runs."

The former India skipper was also full of praise for Shane Watson and Rajasthan Royals (RR), pinpointing how despite minimum resources it was heartening to see RR perform so well. "They planned their team correctly and they did not let go of their players. They knew that they did not have enough money to buy players in the auction," he said. "If Watson had been put in the auction, I doubt RR would have brought him back. The same would apply for James Faulkner and Ajinkya Rahane. So, they decided to play with the team which they had before and it is great to see them do well."

Ganguly also had words of praise for former India team-mater Rahul Dravid, whose temperament reflected in the way RR have played their cricket. "It is not great on talent but it is great on ability and they have a big heart," said Ganguly.