Kolkata Knight Riders assistant coach Shane Watson believes his team will need to force an early misstep from Virat Kohli when KKR take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru in a high-stakes IPL 2026 encounter on Wednesday. Watson’s comments came after another impressive stretch from Kohli, who has been one of RCB’s chief sparks this season with 379 runs across 11 matches at an average of 42.11 and a strike rate of 163.36.
Even so, Kohli arrives at this game on the back of back-to-back failures, having been dismissed for ducks against Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians in consecutive outings. Watson stressed that KKR are not underestimating the threat Kohli brings, pointing out that the batter’s recent record versus Kolkata has been particularly telling. The RCB star has compiled three half-centuries in his last four matches against KKR and remains a major challenge for the two-time champions’ bowling group.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Watson said that every side prepares plans to target Kohli’s perceived areas of vulnerability, while also acknowledging that Kohli is capable of adjusting quickly. “Every team is always going to have plans against Virat where you perceive there’s a weakness to be, but we all know, with King Kohli, he knows exactly how to better try and navigate that as well as possible,” Watson said.
Watson also pointed to Kohli’s dismissal against Mumbai Indians as an example of the kind of risk he can take. In that innings, Kohli moved forward to Deepak Chahar early and then mistimed a lofted shot that ended up being caught near mid-off.
“Yeah, we just hope that he tries to play a shot like he did in the last game, a more aggressive shot right at the start of his innings. We’ve got our fingers crossed that it might happen. Chances of that happening are remote, knowing Virat,” Watson added, smiling as he weighed the likelihood of Kohli repeating that approach.
The assistant coach then highlighted Kohli’s drive and intensity, describing it as a constant feature of his game rather than something that fades over time. “But look, he’s something else. He always has been…… his insatiable appetite just to be the very, very, very best, every ball is engaged in the game that continues to burn so brightly for him. So we know we’ve got to be right on from ball one with Virat. Otherwise, he just sets a platform and a quick platform for his team so amazingly well, and he has over the years. So we have fingers crossed that we can start very well and hope that he might make a rare error and get us into the game a little bit,” Watson said.
With playoff contention tightening across the league, the match carries major weight for KKR. The franchise is currently placed on nine points from 10 matches and cannot afford another slip in a points table where the margins are slim and every result matters.
KKR’s season has also taken a dramatic turn since an extremely poor start. After failing to win any of their first six matches, the team has since rallied strongly, winning four matches in a row to keep its qualification hopes very much alive as it heads into Wednesday’s clash against RCB.
