As Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) prepare to take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in a pivotal match that could secure their playoff spot, star batter Virat Kohli has responded robustly to recent criticism about his T20 strike rate. Known for letting his bat do the talking, Kohli didn’t hold back his words this time either, addressing the detractors head-on.
Virat Kohli has faced scrutiny for his strike rate during the early stages of the ongoing IPL season. The criticism intensified when Sunil Gavaskar openly criticized Kohli for lashing out at experts who questioned his T20 credentials ahead of the T20 World Cup selection. This exchange sparked a heated debate between the two cricket legends.
“I don’t have to react at all. I know what I can do on the ground. I don’t need to tell that to anyone, what kind of player I am, what my abilities are. I never asked anyone how to win a match for my team. I have learned it myself by being in different situations, by failing. This doesn’t happen by chance. Okay, you won one match for the team, or two. But if you are standing there and winning it repeatedly, then it can’t happen by chance,” Virat Kohli stated on JioCinema.
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Despite the criticism, Kohli has retained his spot in India’s squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and USA. He has also topped the IPL 2024 run-scoring charts with 661 runs at an impressive strike rate of 155.16 in 13 innings, silencing many of his critics.
Addressing another facet of his cricketing skills, Virat Kohli, who has four IPL wickets to his name, declared that he will never bowl in the IPL again to avoid denting his batting confidence. The 35-year-old hasn’t bowled in the IPL since 2016, preferring to focus on his primary role as a top-order batsman.
Johns and Mufa will not tell about this
Virat kohli owned gavaskar , and said I knew how to win matches pic.twitter.com/OQJ6PR7YRmβ πππππππππππππ (@ProfKohli18) May 18, 2024
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Virat Kohli has taken nine wickets in international cricket with his unorthodox medium-pace bowling. Known for his deceptive deliveries and slower balls, he can be tricky for batsmen facing him for the first time. However, Kohli made it clear that he doesn’t intend to bowl in the high-stakes IPL environment.
In a match between RCB and Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2024, fans at the Wankhede Stadium chanted for Kohli to bowl when the home team was chasing a 197-run target. The charismatic batter acknowledged the crowd but politely declined their request.
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“In IPL, I’ll never bowl. Fans were chanting ‘Kohli ko bowling do’ a few times, I joined my hands and said sorry. In the match where MI scored 200 in 15 overs, they were asking me to bowl. The confidence I have in batting, that’ll be over too,” Virat Kohli explained on JioCinema.
Virat Kohli’s forthright response and his impressive performance this season reaffirm his position as one of cricket’s modern greats. As RCB heads into their crucial clash against CSK, fans and critics alike will be watching closely to see if Kohli can continue to lead by example and silence his detractors once more.
