Though Virat Kohli waged a lone battle for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their recent loss to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 19th match of the IPL 2024 in Jaipur, the discussion was centered on his strike rate during his unbeaten century.
RCB was asked to bat first by RR captain Sanju Samson after he won the toss. Kohli and RCB captain Faf du Plessis (44) added 125 runs together for the first wicket. Kohli went onto hit 113* in 73 balls as RCB finished with a total of 183/3.
Kohli’s century came off 67 balls and he equaled the record for the slowest century in IPL history in term of balls faced. Overall, his 113* came at a strike-rate of 156.94.
In reply, RR achieved the target in 19.1 overs, with Jos Buttler hitting 100* in 58 balls with a strike rate of 172.41. Buttler had added 148 runs for the second wicket with Sanju Samson (69 in 42 balls, strike rate of 164.28).
Former India opener Virender Sehwag spoke about Virat Kohli’s strike rate in his innings.
"I think RCB are 20 runs short. If I talk about Virat Kohli, the innings have been good. But the guys who had to accompany him—Glenn Maxwell, Cameroon Green, and Dinesh Karthik—did not come to bat; there was no Mahipal Lomror. Nobody was there at the end who could end. However, Virat Kohli's strike-rate could have gone up. Because when you hit 50 off 39 balls, then the strike rate goes up, nearing 200. But the other batters did not do anything. All the pressure was on Kohli," Virender Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
"He is in form. That's his role, and he will stay till the end. The other batters who have been picked by paying so much money should prove their mettle. Like Maxwell. But nobody did anything today,” Sehwag added.
Kohli holds the Orange Cap in the IPL 2024 with 316 runs in 5 innings. The next best batter from RCB is Faf du Plessis, with 109 runs in 5 games, and interestingly, none of the other batters apart from Kohli have hit a single fifty for RCB yet.
Michael Clarke, the former Australia captain, refrained from blaming Kohli for the loss and rather lashed out at the lack of support for the star batter from the rest of the line-up.
“I wouldn't point my fingers at Virat Kohli. He was brilliant, and I think he played the exact role he needed to play because the batters around him are not scoring enough runs, not playing with enough confidence or enough freedom,” Clarke told Star Sports.
He instead targeted captain Du Plessis' strategy to send Cameron Green ahead of in-form Dinesh Karthik, who has been at his 2022 best down the order for RCB.
“I think RCB left 15 runs on the ground. A few of their decisions were hard to understand. You have got Karthik as a finisher; I don’t know why he did not come in, probably after Maxwell. He certainly should have come in before Green. That was an interesting decision,” Clarke added.
RCB have now lost three games in a row and won just one game in 5 matches in the IPL 2024. They will next face the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Mumbai on April 11.
