Virat Kohli is having an amazing outing in the IPL 2024 as he is the leading run-getter for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He also holds the Orange Cap for most runs in the season with 500 runs in 10 games with one ton and 4 fifties to his name.
However, Kohli was criticized on social media for his strike rate after scoring 51 in 43 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad in a match that RCB won. Kohli was slammed for his slow batting, especially as he had accumulated runs quickly in the powerplay, but slowed down once the spinners came on.
However, there has been a clear intent from Kohli to score quickly in the Powerplay, and after his recent fiery knock of 70 off 44 against Gujarat Titans, he responded to the criticism during a chat with the broadcasters.
“All the people who talk about strike rates and me not playing spin well are the ones talking about this stuff (his low strike-rate). For me, it’s about winning the games for the team and there’s a reason why you’ve done it for 15 years, you’ve done this day in and day out, you’ve won games for your teams, I’m not quite sure that if you haven’t been in that situation yourself, to sit and talk about the game from the box,” Kohli had told the broadcasters after the GT game.
Now, former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull has said that there’s no need for Kohli to be bothered about the ‘rubbish’ that is being written on him on social media.
“Interesting that he (Kohli) goes back to these things because they won’t be asking him. Are you looking up your strike rate? Those won’t be the questions. Clearly he’s reading social media or someone is reading all the social media about him. he (Kohli) does this quite often in post-match presentations, where he has a point to make about stuff that is written about him. Why is he bothering?
I mean, seriously, the bloke is such a good player. Why is he bothering reading the rubbish that some people write or why are people reading it and telling him? I don’t understand that? I just look at what he’s done. Why would you bother reading social media and try to make a point about it in interviews? If he’s reading social media, he should have better things to do,” Doull said on Cricbuzz.
Kohli will next be in action on Saturday, when RCB faces off against GT in the return match in Bengaluru on May 4.
