Virat Kohli looks stress-free: Glenn Maxwell warns opposition teams ahead of IPL 2022

Glenn Maxwell said that Virat Kohli looks stress-free after letting go Royal Challengers Bangalore’s captaincy and it is a dangerous sign for the opposition teams in the upcoming IPL. The two were amoung the three players RCB retained this year, Mohammed Siraj being the third. The team will lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders in their season opener on March 30. 

Kohli announced last year that he will not lead RCB in 2022 and onwards. The 33-year-old also resigned from T20 and Test captaincy and was sacked from the ODI leadership role.

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While the team management is pretty clear that Kohli will never captain RCB again, coach Daniel Vettori and Director of Cricket Operations Mike Hesson said that he will be one among the leadership group.

Maxwell said that the burden of the captaincy might have been weighing Kohli down for a while and now that he is free of it, the star batsman will be even more dangerous. The Aussie also added that the former India skipper is no longer the “in-your face” aggressive cricketer that he used to be and that has been pleasantly surprising.

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“He knows he’s handing the captaincy over, which I think is potentially a big burden for him. It might have been something that’s been weighing him down for a while and now that he’s been able to release it, it might be dangerous news for opposition teams,” Maxwell told RCB Podcast.

The flamboyant Australian is happy that Kohli is in that phase when he would actually be enjoying being out there in thick of things.

“It is amazing for him to be relaxed a bit and actually enjoy the next few years of his career without any of that sort of external pressure. I think playing against him in earlier days, he was a fiery competitor, getting in your face. He’s always trying to impose himself on the game. Impose himself on the opposition.” The Australian all-rounder is loving the cricketing conversations he is having with Kohli and is himself surprised that the former India skipper has become a close friend.”

The Australian all-rounder further added that Kohli has been measured with decision making this year. 

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“Something I’ve noticed more from him this year is he’s been really measured with his emotions. He’s actually been really measured with his decision-making. He’s certainly really surprised me and probably how close we’ve both gotten to each other as well this year. Being able to talk about the game in a calm manner,” Maxwell said.

“Because you do see that over-excited, in your face style when you play against him. But to play with him and have really good conversations about the game, I’ve really enjoyed that.”