I don’t come with premeditation, want to keep bowlers guessing: Kohli

PTI, Apr 7, 2024, 9:22 AM IST

Image source: X / @IPL

Jaipur: Virat Kohli feels that opposition bowlers want him to go hammer and tongs every time he comes out to bat, but he prefers adapting to match conditions without any predetermined strategy as he did in his unbeaten century against Rajasthan Royals in an IPL match on Saturday.

Kohli hit 12 fours and four sixes in his eighth IPL hundred — a composed 113 not out off 72 balls but RCB managed only 183 for 3 as none of the batters, Kohli included, upped the ante on a track where Rajasthan Royals spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin proved difficult propositions.

“The wicket looks quite different from the outside. It feels like it’s flat, but the ball is holding up in the pitch, that’s when you realise the pace changes,” Kohli told official broadcasters after the RCB innings.

Kohli also defended the strategy of not going after the bowlers from word go. “One of us (Virat or Faf) had to bat till the end. I feel this total is effective on this pitch. I am not coming in with any premeditation. I knew I couldn’t get over aggressive, just that I had to keep the bowlers guessing. They think I will come hard at them,” Kohli said.

“It’s just experience and maturity of playing the conditions. Even if there’s dew, the surface is rough and dry, won’t be easy for the batters,” he observed.

He felt that hitting Chahal or Ashwin wasn’t an easy task.  “I couldn’t get under the carrom ball against Ashwin. Couldn’t slog towards mid-wicket, so had to target straight down the ground,” said Kohli.