Sunil Gavaskar Slams Virat Kohli Slow Strike Rate During RCB vs SRH Match

RCB opening batsman, Virat Kohli, once again found himself under scrutiny despite scoring a half-century in the match against SRH. Kohli’s knock of 51 runs off 43 deliveries with 4 boundaries and a six wasn’t enough to impress former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, who criticized the veteran batsman for his slow strike rate.

Kohli started the innings aggressively alongside FAF Du Plessis. However, after Du Plessis’s wicket and the end of the powerplay, Kohli approach shifted towards taking singles rather than hitting big shots. The RCB captain failed to hit a single boundary after the 4th over mark, scoring the next 28 runs of his innings at less than a run a ball.

During the commentary, Gavaskar expressed his disappointment, saying, “It’s just been singles, singles and singles from Kohli. There is Dinesh Karthik to come; there is Mahipal Lomror to come. You’ve got to try and take a few risks now. Look at Patidar. He had already hit three sixes in that over. If he wanted, he could have taken a single or left the ball for a wide. But no, he went for it because the opportunity was there.”

In a post-match analysis with Star Sports, Gavaskar further elaborated on Kohli’s innings, stating, “In the middle, he just seemed to have lost touch. I am not sure of the exact numbers, but I think from 31-32 to the time he got out, he did not hit a boundary. So at the end of the day, when he got out when you are facing the strike in the first ball of the innings and you get out in the 14th or the 15th over, you have got a strike rate of 118, that’s not what your team expects from you.”

Despite Kohli half-century, his inability to accelerate the scoring rate during the middle overs was highlighted, leaving fans and critics alike expecting more from the RCB captain in the matches to come.