Virat Kohli’s performance in IPL 2024 has placed him among the top run-getters, yet concerns persist over his strike rate, particularly against spin bowlers. Despite this, his recent explosive 70 not out off 44 balls against Gujarat Titans showcased significant improvement, with a strike rate of 179 against spinners, marking his third-best performance in this regard in a T20 innings. This performance came amid criticism, prompting Kohli to lash out at his detractors.
However, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar expressed frustration on air over Kohli’s behaviour during RCB’s clash with GT in the IPL 2024.
Gavaskar was displeased with Kohli’s remarks and criticized the former RCB captain just before the start of the match against GT at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. He pointed out that commentators only scrutinized Kohli when he got out before the slog overs, having registered a strike rate below 120.
Slamming Kohli over his unwarranted rant against commentators, Gavaskar said, “They questioned only when the strike rate was 118. I’m not too sure. I don’t watch too many matches, so I don’t know what the other commentators have said otherwise. But if you have a strike of 118 and then you get out on the 14th or the 15th with a strike rate of 118, I mean, if you want applause for that, that’s a little bit different. That’s different.” Additionally, Gavaskar called out Kohli for his hypocrisy in responding to critics after previously stating that he cared little about outside noise. He emphasised that commentators don’t operate with hidden agendas and are simply doing their job.
“When you talk about all these guys talk about, oh we don’t care about outside noise, acha. Then why are you replying to any outside noise or whatever it is. We all played a bit of cricket, not a lot of cricket. We don’t have agendas. We speak about what we see. We don’t necessarily have any likes and dislikes. Even if we have likes and dislikes, we actually speak on what is happening,” Gavaskar said.
