Just as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru team bus reached Eden Gardens, a deafening roar engulfed the venue. The reason was quite obvious... Virat Kohli.

The assembled crowd just wanted to catch a glimpse of their favourite star. As the modern-day maestro deboarded the team bus and made his way into the Eden, the “Kohli, Kohli” chants got doubly louder.

Such adulation is obviously cherished by most sportspersons and Kohli too is no different. But just as Kohli the focused perfectionist usually does, he shunned all distractions to take the field for RCB’s training session on Thursday and got down to business almost immediately.

Having done a few minutes of knocking at one of the practice nets, the former India and RCB captain walked straight to one of the centre nets, where he batted for at least a good 40 minutes. Given his Champions Trophy form, where he contributed handsomely in two of India’s crucial wins — an unbeaten 100 against Pakistan and the 98-ball 84 in the semi-final win over Australia — one assumes Kohli’s bat will dictate terms in the IPL as well.

But during Thursday’s practice, he initially looked to be in a bit of discomfort, especially against Josh Hazlewood. The senior Australia quick, who missed the fourth and fifth Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the Sri Lanka tour and also the Champions Trophy with calf and hip issues, beat Kohli outside the off-stump and
even induced an edge off his bat once.

That was quite reminiscent of Kohli’s nightmarish Australia trip, where he edged one after another to the keeper or to the slip cordon.

Hazlewood, it appears, has regained fitness, which is good news for RCB as well as Australia, keeping in mind their World Test Championship final against South Africa in June. But for RCB, it’s Kohli’s rhythm that matters more than anything else.

Set to open with the explosive Phil Salt, a Kohli in full flow will ease things up for RCB, who often struggle in the early stages of the IPL.

Coming back to Thursday’s training session, even when facing Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kohli didn’t look too assured although he had managed a couple of drives
in between.

Gradually though, he started looking better, charging down the track and hoisting Krunal Pandya and other spinners. He even hoicked Hazlewood once over the off-side.

During all that, there were loud cheers from Eden’s K and L blocks where several people had turned up to watch Kohli train. The attendance during that period on Thursday was certainly more than that of any domestic competition game.

The pitch for Saturday’s game against the Kolkata Knight Riders, which is also this year’s tournament opener, will be the one that was in use for the January 22 India-England T20I.

The likes of Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine know the Eden conditions well enough, but these aren’t alien to Kohli either. Given his seriousness and commitment to be at his best tempo, he had two more rounds of throwdown before returning to a practice net for a few more minutes of batting.

SRK show

Bollywood star and the Knight Riders’ principal owner Shah Rukh Khan will also be in focus in Saturday’s 25-minute opening ceremony. According to KKR sources, Shah Rukh may have a “special show” alongside the other performers.

The Knights, though, may have to play their April 6 game against Lucknow Super Giants in Guwahati as police won’t be able to provide adequate security here on that date owing to Ram Navami.