Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar was extremely critical of Virat Kohli’s strike rate. Gavaskar said that Kohli should have played with a little more intent. Virat Kohli scored yet another half century this season, scoring 51, which is his 53rd IPL fifty.
However, Virat Kohli took 43 balls, scoring 51 runs. RCB posted a competitive total of 206 because of a brilliant performance from Rajat Patidar, who scored 50 of just 20 deliveries.
Virat Kohli started in his usual style, targeting bowlers throughout the powerplay. He scored 32 of 18 deliveries in the powerplay. However, once the powerplay got over, Kohli’s innings slowed down completely, and he was struggling to find a rhythm against the likes of Mayank Markande and Shahbaz Ahmed.
Speaking about Kohli’s innings in his interaction with Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar said, “In the middle, he just seemed to have lost touch. I am not sure of the exact numbers, but I think from 31–32 to the time he got out, he did not hit a boundary. So at the end of the day, when he got out, when you are facing the strike in the first ball of the inning and you get out in the 14th or the 15th over, you have a strike rate of 118; that’s not what your team expects from you.”
On the other hand, former Australian opener Simon Katich too criticized Virat’s batting, saying that RCB lost the opportunity to post 220 on the board due to the innings played by Virat.
Simon Katich said, “Yeah, there is no doubt he lost impetus. I think Rajat Patidar played beautifully, and he was the one who was trying to hit the fours and sixes. Virat Kohli probably needed to do that. I think that the sub-120 strike rate probably cost RCB 220-plus against the SunRisers. Against SRH, 206 on the board might not be enough.”
