Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star batter Virat Kohli has been piling up runs in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), despite criticism over his strike-rate. The former RCB captain is second in scoring charts with 500 runs in 10 matches, only nine runs behind current Orange Cap holder Ruturaj Gaikwad. However, his knocks have been often overshadowed by his debatable strike-rate. Amid criticism, Kohli has found the backing of former India cricketers Irfan Pathan and Mohammad Kaif.
Irfan and Kaif slammed his critics for showing double standards with the interesting example of SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) batter Travis Head.
For the unversed, Head has been in sensational form in the IPL himself. The Australian opener has scored 396 runs in nine matches, striking at over 194.
However, during SRH's game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Thursday, even Head struggled to time the ball. At one point, he was batting on 25 off as many deliveries, and ended up scoring 58 off 44 balls with a strike-rate of 131.8.
Speaking on Head's knock, Irfan and Kaif suggested that if Kohli had played a similar knock, everyone would have been talking about his strike rate for days.
"According to his ability, you have never seen him play like this. No matter what you say that there was good bowling and everything, but every cricketer should be treated equally," Irfan said on Star Sports.
Kaif echoed his sentiments, and added: "You are right, if this was Virat Kohli, I can guarantee that people would have said only 58 runs in 44 balls? What is this? They would say it is low and there would have debates about his strike rate. But I believe that this was a good innings by Head."
Irfan further explained how Kohli has been carrying RCB with his batting, especially with the franchise languishing at the bottom of the points table.
"But if there was Virat Kohli instead, people would have stuck to the strike rate but here we are talking about taking responsibility for team's victory, so please treat everyone equally," Irfan added.
Kohli had also addressed the debate surrounding his strike-rate. He had taken a swipe at his critics after the match against Gujarat Titans and said: "All the people who talk about [my] strike rate and me not playing spin well are the ones who love to talk about these things. But for me, it is just about winning the game. There's a reason why you do it for 15 years. Because you do this day in and day out and won games for your team," said Kohli after the Gujarat Titans game.
"I am not sure if you haven't been in that situation, to sit and speak about the game from the box. I don't think it is the same thing. I am just doing my job. People can talk about their own ideas and assumption on the game (sic)," he added.
Kohli will have the chance to reclaim the Orange Cap when RCB take on GT on Saturday.