In the build-up to the T20 World Cup in June, there have been several question marks over former India skipper Virat Kohli’s relevance in the format because of his strike-rate and his tendency to get stuck against spin, but the seasoned batter has answered his critics with consistent performances in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).
On Thursday, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) right-hander extended his lead at the top of the IPL 2024 run-scorers list (634 runs in 12 matches) with a dazzling 92 runs off just 47 balls against the Punjab Kings, to become the first batter this season to breach the 600-run barrier.
During the course of his knock, Kohli also dispelled doubts over his ability to counter spinners by using the slog sweep effectively, and spoke about bringing back the shot from his wide arsenal.
“I’ve brought out the slog-sweep to the spinners (laughs). I just mentally put myself in that situation and I didn’t practice it at all,” Kohli said after winning the Player-of-the-Match award in Dharamsala.
“I know I can hit it because I’ve hit it a lot in the past. So, I just felt like I need to take a bit more risk and for me that shot was something that I used to hit regularly back in the day. And that’s allowing me to hit off the back foot as well because I’m always looking to expose that side of the field against the spin.
“For me, that has been a massive factor in this IPL. So, I think it just takes a bit more conviction and take out that thought that props up: ‘what if you get out’. I’ve been managing to stay ahead of that thought in this IPL and that’s really helped me in the middle overs in this IPL, keeping my strike rate up and keeping the scoring rate going for the team as well,” he added.
Last month, following his 51 off 43 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kohli faced criticism for his strike rate of 118.60. While he started briskly, scoring 32 runs from his initial 18 balls, he struggled to maintain momentum, managing only 19 runs in the subsequent 25 balls. However, the India No.3 bounced back with an unbeaten 70 off 44 balls against Gujarat Titans, and showed the effectiveness of the sweep shot against Noor Ahmad, Rashid Khan and Sai Kishore.
After the game, he had hit back at the critics saying, “All the people who talk about strike rates and me not playing spin well are the ones who love talking about this stuff. But for me, it’s just about winning the game for the team. And there’s a reason why you do it for 15 years – because you’ve done this day in [and] day out; you’ve won games for your teams.”
Even when announcing the T20 World Cup squad, chief selector Ajit Agarkar said there were no discussions on Kohli’s strike rate.
Kohli’s impressive recent performances with the bat signal promising times ahead for the Indian team as they prepare for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup next month in the West Indies and USA.
The Indian team will open their campaign against Ireland on June 5 before playing arch-rivals Pakistan on June 9 at the newly-constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. They will later play tournament co-hosts USA (June 12) and Canada (June 15) to wrap up their Group A matches.