Andy Flower impressed by Virat Kohli’s ‘charismatic’ transition at RCB

Virat Kohli will be taking the yard for the 19thseason for RCB and that itself is a burning testimony to his endurance. Throughout the years, he has grown along with the franchise and his work rate still serves a glaring example of how a leader is forged. Talking on the latest episode of Big Basket presents RCB Podcast, Head Coach Andy Flower opened up on how Virat’s work ethics make him stand out from the pack.

Andy Flower said, “I like the way he (Virat Kohli) trains. He's very driven, and people know that about him. He's very disciplined in a number of areas. I didn't know him as a younger man, and I probably don't know him that well now, but it seems to me as if he's becoming more spiritual as he gets older. He's very dedicated to his family, and those are traits that I really admire.”

Andy continued, “And there were a few things that stood out probably two seasons ago for me that tell a story about him. When we were really struggling in the first half of the 2024 season, when we had won just one from our first 8 games, he played in that arena, then holding themselves well during that time was a real key to us being able to fight our way out of that situation. And he was one of those guys.”

Underlining how Kohli helped RCB to turn things around in the second half of the 2024 IPL season, Andy added, “And being so influential, he's a charismatic guy, he was outstanding during that time that we were struggling, and a huge part of the reason why we pulled ourselves out of that hole and turned our season around and made the playoffs. I witnessed a development in his game when he knew that the team required us to be particularly attacking coming out of power play, and he recognized that and did something about it.”

Andy concluded by saying, “And to see a guy of his experience and with a fully developed game and a fully developed take on how to play international high-quality IPL cricket to then change his game a little, that was quite something to witness. I think his hunger to succeed, his hunger to be the best, his hunger to develop himself is a character trait of his that's really admirable.”