"He deserves a lot of credit," Sunil Gavaskar defends this Indian legend
The former Indian legendary batter, Sunil Gavaskar, was full of praise for the modern-master Virat Kohli. In the past six months or so, Virat Kohli has rejuvenated himself and is again among the runs for both India and Royal Challengers Bangalore. In the ongoing IPL season, the 34-year-old has already amassed three half-centuries in four innings.
However, the former Kiwi cricketer, Simon Doull, questioned Virat Kohli’s scoring rate during his 61-run knock against Lucknow Super Giants. Doull exclaimed that Virat Kohli is playing for his “personal milestones”. Now, Sunil Gavaskar has replied back while favouring the current Indian batter.
Sunil Gavaskar replies back to Virat Kohli’s critics
Virat Kohli’s strike rate has been a talking point of IPL 2023. Apart from Simon Doull, several other cricket pundits have slammed the RCB opener for batting slow, particularly after the end of the field restrictions. But Sunil Gavaskar has jumped to defend Virat Kohli amid all the chatter. The 73-year-old exclaimed that Virat Kohli “deserves a lot of credit”.
“Virat Kohli is giving RCB flying starts at the start of the innings,” exclaimed Gavaskar in a show with Star Sports. “He deserves a lot of credit for the starts RCB is getting and the runs the team is managing to post on the board because of his starts. These are good signs for RCB”.
Sunil Gavaskar has made a good point. Virat Kohli has been able to provide decent starts and stability at the top of the order. He has often been able to accelerate as well after playing a few balls at the start. For example, Virat went berserk after batting watchfully in the first three overs against Lucknow Super Giants.
Yes, the Delhi-born tends to slow down after the powerplay, but that’s been his method in the T20 format. His modus operandi is clear, which has fetched him great success over the years. After exploding at the late end of the powerplay, Virat slows down for a few overs in the middle before taking on the bowlers again.
Virat Kohli’s waning expertise against the spinners has a major role to play as well at times. Still, he has managed to score consistently and play match-winning innings in this format.
Virat Kohli never intends to play for personal milestones. That’s been his game all these years. Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on Chennai Super Kings in a high-octane clash at their home ground tonight.