I've been approached a few times to come into the IPL Auction somehow - Virat Kohli

Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli will again be giving his services to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Since IPL 2008, he has played for the franchise and has never participated in the IPL Auction. However, recently, he admitted that some franchises had urged him to do the same in the past.

Kohli is the only player in IPL history to have played for one franchise since the tournament's inauguration in 2008. He also disclosed that he had considered participating in the auction after the franchises requested him. Nonetheless, he had decided to continue with RCB, as loyalty meant everything to him.

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"At the end of the day, a person lives a certain number of years, and then you die, and life moves on. Many great players have won trophies and things like that, but no one addresses you like that. If you are a good person, people like you, and if you are a bad guy, they stay away from you. Eventually, that's what life is all about," Kohli was quoted as saying in an RCB podcast.

"The loyalty with RCB, like how I follow my life, is far greater than five people saying you've finally won the IPL with XYZ. You feel good for five minutes, and then the sixth minute, you could be miserable with some other issue in life. What this franchise has given to me in the first three years, and believed in me, is the most special thing. Many teams had the opportunity. They didn't back me, and they didn't believe in me," added Kohli.

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Kohli's stint with RCB as a batter has been extraordinary. He has scored 6,283 runs in 207 IPL matches at an average of 37.4 and a strike rate of 129.95, including five tons and 42 half-centuries, with a top score of 113. However, he has never managed to lay his hands on the coveted trophy as a player and a skipper.

"It disappoints me. We had opportunities where we came close. I am not going to call it luck. The opposition is there to play as well, and if they are better on the day, you have to accept that we haven't been as courageous or as evident in our plans as we should have been in those crunch moments," Kohli concluded.