Virat Kohli’s strike rate has been the talk of the town ever since the sixteenth edition of IPL 2023 kicked off.
Virat Kohli’s strike rate has been the talk of the town ever since the sixteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) kicked off. His constant slowdowns after the powerplay has been called out by several T20 experts and viewers around the globe, including the likes of Simon Doull and Tom Moody.
While Virat Kohli, who has been in fantastic form with the willow this season, has managed to churn out runs at a rapid pace in the powerplay, his dip in scoring rate in the middle overs has been frequent. While the conditions have been arduous at times, Kohli’s regular slowdowns have certainly held his team back from posting the ideal totals this season.
There have been reasons for the shrink in the strike rate of Virat Kohli after the end of field restrictions. His waning expertise against the slow bowlers is the single biggest reason, which has been lucid for a while now.
The 34-year-old has struck at 103.48 only and possesses a below-par balls-per-boundary ratio of 12.28 against the spinners this season. Furthermore, the veteran batter has also been dismissed by the spinners on four occasions as well.
The former England batter-captain, Michael Vaughan, is the latest expert to call out Virat Kohli’s slow approach in the middle overs. According to Vaughan, Virat Kohli is good enough to play at a brisk rate.
“People have been talking about Kohli’s strike rate as well and have been targeting him because he is that good. He can easily pump up his strike rate,” exclaimed the 48-year-old Englishman in a show with Cricbuzz. “It’s not a criticism, but it is giving him that belief to go on. If I was him, I would have been looking at some of the younger players like Gill and say, ‘Wait a minute, they are chasing me down the rails’.”
Virat Kohli has a tried and tested method in the T20 format, which has fetched him consistent results in a lengthy career. From Mohali to Melbourne, he has played some iconic knocks in a rich career.
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However, Virat Kohli needs to change his approach to check himself from ending up playing a negative knock in the context of the match. Having a higher intent in the middle overs will be good for the starters.
