Even the best struggled like Kohli...

Batting slumps afflict the best of willow wielders And Virat Kohli who has endured a poor run of scores in all forms of the game recently is no exceptionIn between his unbeaten 41 against Punjab Kings on March 27 and the 48 he carved against the Mumbai Indians on April 9 there were scores of 12 and five against Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals respectively Then came the 1 against CSK 12 against Delhi ducks against Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad before Tuesdayrsquos 10ball nine in his second clash of the seasonwith the RoyalsAt the time of writing his team Royal Challengers Bangalore are in the top five on the IPL15 points table with five wins just like Sunrisers and Lucknow RCB seem to be coping all right with Kohlirsquos lack of runs and that will probably be the only positive for their former captainKohli is often spoken in the same breath as Sir Vivian Richards and the great West Indian endured the agony of being short of big runs in one particular seriesmdashthe 197576 one in Australia where Clive Lloydrsquos men suffered a 15 shellacking at the hands of Greg Chappellrsquos rampaging teamBefore the start of the fifth Test in Adelaide Richardsrsquos tally for the series was a feeble 147 in seven visits to the crease It was felt that Richardsrsquos anxiety of waiting to walk in to bat was getting to him Whether that was the real reason for him opening the batting in the tour game against Australian Capital Territory and Southern New South Wales Country in the buildup to the fifth Test cannot be ascertained because Richards in his autobiography said he offered to open the batting But he came up with a 93 off 138 balls and followed it up with 160 and 107 not out against Tasmania at Hobart And in a 40over game against the same state before the Adelaide Test he smashed a matchwinning 99 As expected his numbers improved and his last four innings of the series across the Adelaide and Melbourne Tests yielded 30 101 50 and 98Doubtless Richards worked hard for his revival From playing his first series against India who had the best spinners in the world to the hard and bouncy tracks of Australia demanded some level of adjustment He was also aided by a chat with fast bowlerturnedsports psychologist Dr Rudi Webster who was a radiologist too He put Richards through some drills to improve his concentration and the Antiguan got his mojo back As Richards said in his book ldquoI improved both my concentration and my battingrdquoOf the 24 Test centuries Richards slammed in his career his second onemdashthe 101 in Adelaide on the tourmdashwould have been one of the most cherished Frank Tyson the expace terror who took up journalism wrote about Richardsrsquos first hundred against Australia in glowing fashion ldquoThere was no lingering in the nervous nineties for Vivian Richards Two thunderous lofted drives back past the bowler brought him to his firstthree figure score against Australia in 166 minutes It was only his second Test hundred but it was one to remember since his innings contained no fewer than 17 foursrdquoRichardsrsquos 101 at Adelaide was followed up with 50 in the first innings of the sixth and final Test at Melbourne He attacked all the way in his 54ball innings which ended when he played defensively to Dennis Lillee only to be caught behind by Rodney Marsh In the second innings he played every shot in the book but embraced a cautious approach when in the nineties Greg Chappell held a cut shot at first slip and Richards walked back to the dressing room for the last time on that nasty tour for 98 which would prove to be in vain as West Indies lost by 165 runs Tyson wrote ldquoRichards departed as a member that of that elite band of batsmen who had come within spitting distance of a century only to find the wind of fortune in their facesrdquoThe year 1976 was a great one for Richards He rose from the depths of despair at the start of it he burgeoned India in March and April 556 in four Tests in the Caribbean and 829 in the same amount of Testsmdashyes you read right in England from June to AugustWhen it comes to batsmen with some level of abilitymdashand Richards had oodles of itmdashbad trots are followed by revival and I dare say that is imminent in Kohlirsquos case toomiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper