IPL 2022: 3 times Virat Kohli could not impress in crucial matches

Virat Kohli is the most successful batter in the Indian Premier League history. The Royal Challengers Bangalore star has played 207 matches, scoring 6,283 runs at an average of 37.40. He has scored 42 half-centuries and five tons in his IPL career.

Kohli has been a member of the RCB squad since the IPL's inception. He is one of the few players to have never been auctioned in IPL history. The former Indian captain will continue playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the upcoming IPL season.

RCB fans will hope that Virat Kohli wins his first IPL trophy this year. Despite achieving so much success as a player, Kohli has never been able to put his hands on the IPL trophy. The team has qualified for the finals thrice, falling short on all three occasions.

While Kohli has been one of the biggest match-winners in IPL history, there have been a few instances when the right-handed batter failed to deliver the goods. In this listicle today, we will look back at the three crucial games where Kohli could not get going.

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#1 7(8) vs. Deccan Chargers, IPL 2009 Final

Virat Kohli played his first IPL Final in the year 2009

Virat Kohli represented RCB in the IPL 2009 final against the Deccan Chargers. Kohli was not an established player back then, but the Royal Challengers Bangalore team management always backed him.

DC batted first and set a 144-run target for RCB in the 2009 IPL Final. The Royal Challengers got off to a decent start, with Roelof van der Merwe and Ross Taylor contributing a total of 59 runs. The IPL team needed one of the batters to play a big knock, but none of them succeeded doing so.

Kohli scored only seven runs off eight deliveries after coming out to bat at number six. He was stumped off Andrew Symonds' bowling on the eighth ball of his innings.

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#2 0 (2) vs. Gujarat Lions, IPL 2016 Qualifier 1

Virat Kohli owned the opposition bowlers in IPL 2016. The Royal Challengers Bangalore captain shattered the record for the most runs by a batter in a single IPL season by aggregating 973 runs.

He could have touched the 1,000-run mark had he not lost his wicket for a duck in Qualifier 1. Playing against the Gujarat Lions, an in-form Kohli lost his stumps to Dhawal Kulkarni on the second ball of his innings. However, RCB managed to win the match because of AB de Villiers' half-century.

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#3 6 (7) vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad, IPL 2020 Eliminator

RCB qualified for the IPL playoffs 2020 and met Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator match. Fans expected captain Kohli to play a big knock in the knockout game, but the skipper departed for the pavilion after scoring six runs off seven balls.

He opened the innings with Devdutt Padikkal, but both batters were back in the hut before the score crossed 15. Kohli got out caught behind off Jason Holder's bowling. RCB managed 131/7 in their 20 overs, and SRH chased the target with six wickets in hand.