IPL 2024: Sunil Gavaskar’s Critique of Virat Kohli, ‘All About the Singles, Singles, and Singles’

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) registered their first win in a month by defeating Punjab Kings on March 25 in Bengaluru. On Thursday, the Faf du Plessis-led side beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 35 runs to stay in the playoff race. However, despite scoring a half-century in a victorious cause, Virat Kohli’s strike-rate debate has reignited.

The former skipper scored his third half-century of the season and shared a valuable 65-run partnership with Rajat Patidar, who contributed a remarkable 50 off just 20 balls. But Kohli’s strike-rate, 118.60, became a major talking point, especially after the powerplay when he dropped his pace. Kohli scored 32 off his first 18 balls, before slowing dramatically to score 19 off the next 25 balls. This drop in strike-rate angered Sunil Gavaskar and he expressed his displeasure on air.

“It’s just singles, singles and singles from Kohli. [Dinesh] Karthik is coming; There [Mahipal] Lomaror is coming. You have to try taking a few risks now. See Patidar. He hit three sixes in this over. He could have taken a single or dropped the ball for a wide if he wanted to. But no, he went for it because there was an opportunity,” Gavaskar said while commentating on the broadcast. “RCB need this approach now. Yes, Kohli has played and missed; It is not easy, because when you were in your shell, you are doing only that, and it is not easy to connect suddenly. But Kohli needs to do it; Need to try. He has to try the big shots,” he added.

It was Kohli’s fourth consecutive IPL half-century in Hyderabad which he completed in 37 balls. But he did not hit a single boundary in nine overs and many eyebrows were raised. He was eventually dismissed by Jaydev Undkat, who was playing his 100th IPL game. After Patidar’s scintillating innings, Cameron Green’s 20-ball 37 pushed RCB to 206/7, a total that was enough to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Gavaskar felt that Kohli lost his touch after a certain point, resulting in his strike-rate dropping.

“In the middle, he just seemed to lose touch. I’m not sure about the exact figures, but I think he didn’t hit a boundary until 31-32 when he got out. So at the end of the day, when you’re facing strike on the first ball of the innings and he’s out and you’re out in the 14th or 15th over, your strike rate is 118, that’s not your team. Expecting you to,” Gavaskar added.