This IPL season, Virat Kohli of the Royals has been in unbelievable form, amassing 500 runs at a strike rate of 147 and an average of 77. Even though he received criticism for his performance against spinners, Kohli focuses on leading the team to victory and brushes off the criticism of his style of play.
This season, former captain and RCB opening batsman Virat Kohli has been in excellent form, regularly topping the IPL run-scoring rankings and contributing to his team’s early success. This IPL season, the 35-year-old batsman has amassed 500 runs at an average of 77 and a strike rate of 147. But this season, Kohli has come under heavy criticism for his lack of initiative against the spinners, particularly during the middle overs of the game. The veteran of the RCB has finally come up to discuss his thoughts on the subject following Sunday’s game against the Gujarat Titans.
During the post-match talks, Kohli made a jab at his detractors by saying, “The people who love talking about this stuff are the ones who talk about strike rates and me not playing spin well.” But all that matters to me is getting the team to win the game. You’ve been doing this every day for 15 years for a reason—you’ve helped your teams win games, which is why.”
“I am not quite sure if you’ve been in that situation yourself to sit and speak about the game from a box. I don’t think it’s the same thing. So for me, it’s just about doing my job. People can talk about their ideas and assumptions of the game, but those who have done it day in [and] day out know what’s happening, and it’s kind of a muscle memory for me now.”
Simond Doul says Virat Kohli reading ‘rubbish’ on social media:
Simon Doull, a former captain of New Zealand, took exception to Kohli’s comment, saying that the Indian skipper was reading some inappropriate material and that the comment was unnecessary.
“I think he is reading a lot of stuff on social media and is reacting to it,” Doull remarked in an interview with Cricbuzz. Someone from his team is telling him what is being said if he is not reading. Being a fantastic player, he didn’t need to respond in that way following the game.
“This year, this is not the first time. He usually makes a statement following the game. The former Kiwi pacer continued, “There’s no need for him to read the garbage on social media and then make huge statements.
Netizens not impressed with Kohli’s ‘from a box’ remark:
Virat Kohli’s blunt reply on his strike rate also didn’t sit down well with many users on social media stating that the criticism wasn’t ‘invalid’.
One user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote, “He has worked on his game to show more intent vs spin, and it came off. That doesn’t make all the criticism invalid.”
Another user wrote, “Man, your team is last in the points table while you hold the orange cap. You aren’t winning games for your team… that’s clear!!”
Yet another user said, “A Sportsman of his stature doesn’t need to prove or sound insecure with such statements.”
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