‘Just Been Singles, Singles and Singles’: Gavaskar’s caustic jab at Virat Kohli, ‘Seemed to Have Lost Touch’

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defeated the Punjab Kings on March 25 in Bengaluru, their first win in a month. To continue in the playoff hunt, the team captained by Faf du Plessis upset the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday by a score of 35 runs. Nevertheless, even if Virat Kohli scored a half-century in the winning cause, the discussion over his strike rate has heated up once again.

In addition to scoring his third half-century of the year, the former captain partnered with Rajat Patidar, who contributed a noteworthy 50 runs off of only 20 balls, for a crucial 65 runs. However, Kohli’s strike rate of 118.60 became a hot topic of conversation, particularly when he slowed down during the powerplay.

After quickly reaching 32 off his first 18 balls, Kohli abruptly slowed down to reach only 19 off his next 25 balls. Sunil Gavaskar was infuriated by this decline in strike rate and voiced his disapproval on air.

“All Kohli has been able to do is score singles. [Dinesh] Karthik and [Mahipal] Lomror are still to arrive. It’s time for you to attempt to take some chances. Examine Patidar. In that over, he had already hit three sixes. He could have left the ball for a wide or taken a single if he had wanted to. However, he took advantage of the chance since it was there, Gavaskar said during his on-air analysis.

“RCB’s current strategy is what’s needed. Yes, Kohli has played and missed; it’s difficult because, when you’re in your shell, all you’ve been doing is working the ones; when you come out of it, it will be difficult to connect. However, Kohli must try to do that. “He must try the big shots, no,” he continued.

In Hyderabad, Kohli achieved his fourth successive IPL half-century, reaching 37 balls without hitting a boundary for nine overs. In the end, Jaydev Unadkat, who was playing in his 100th IPL match, dismissed him. Following Patidar’s explosive blow, Cameron Green’s 37 off 20 helped RCB reach 206/7, a score that was good enough to defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Gavaskar thought that after a while, Kohli lost his edge, which caused his strike-rate to decline.

He just seemed to have lost contact in the middle. I don’t know the precise statistics, but I believe he did not cross a barrier between 31 and 32 and the time he left. Ultimately, if you are facing a strike in the first ball of the innings and you are out in the fourteenth or fifteenth over, you have a strike rate of 118, which is not what your team wants from you, Gavaskar said.