Former Australian opener Aaron Finch has backed Virat Kohli’s fifty against SRH and all the questions that the RCB star is facing after playing a slow knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Kohli scored 51 runs off 43 balls, beginning strongly in the powerplay overs. However, after the initial six overs, he managed only 19 runs from 25 balls before getting out.
Rajat Patidar also notched up an impressive fifty and contributed well in reaching RCB at a mammoth score of 206 at the loss of seven wickets.
RCB eventually won the match by 35 runs, but during the mid-innings break, fans and Sunil Gavaskar criticized Kohli’s innings. However, Finch, speaking on Star Sports, defended Kohli’s performance and explained why he might have shown a bit less intent.
The former Australia skipper said that Patidar was batting brilliantly at the other end and needed to be given the majority of the strike. Finch also said that Kohli was looking to play the anchor’s role for other batters.
“I think it is a combination of a few things here. Yes, he got off to an absolute flyer. But after the powerplay, he dropped to 19 from 25. But one thing you have to keep in mind is that Patidar was going crazy at the other end. Sometimes your job as a set batter is to take the game a little bit deeper and get Patidar on strike as much as possible. That’s where the intent to hit boundaries goes out,” said Finch.
He further added, “You can look at him in isolation and say ‘Yes it dropped.’ But as a partnership, it worked well. Because the last thing you want when you’re on fire is to be stuck at the non-striker’s end a lot. He did the right thing by getting Patidar up there.”
