"They Have Not Been In That Situation...": Virat Kohli Shuts Down Strike Rate Critics In Style

A few days after former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull had questioned his scoring pace, India and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) star batter Virat Kohli has given a fitting reply to the critics. During RCB's game against the Lucknow Super Giants earlier this week, Kohli scored a half-century, after scoring at will during the powerplay. However, his strike-rate dropped massively after the field restrictions were removed. Doull, who was on commentary duty, suggested that Kohli was concerned about his milestone.

"Kohli started off like a train. He was going hammer and tongs as he was playing a lot of shots. From 42 to 50, he took 10 balls. Concerned about a milestone. I don't think there's room for that in this game anymore. Just got to keep going, especially with wickets in hand at that stage. You got to keep going," Doull was heard as saying on-air.

Kohli has now opened up about the strike-rate factor in T20s.

"Yeah for sure (important anchor role). I completely agree with that, There are many people who because they have not been in that situation themselves, they look at the game differently," Kohli told former India batter Robin Uthappa on Jio Cinema. 

"Suddenly when the powerplay is done, they will be like 'oh, they have started rotating the strike'. When you haven't lost a wicket in the powerplay, usually the best player comes on to bowl, you are trying to figure out what to do against him in the first two overs, so that you can get big ones in the last two overs of that guy and then rest of the innings becomes much easier," he added.

Kohli will be back in action on Saturday as RCB take on Delhi Capitals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Topics mentioned in this article

Royal Challengers Bangalore Virat Kohli Robin Uthappa Simon Blair Doull IPL 2023 Cricket