I know my game better: Kohli on his strike rate

PTI, Apr 29, 2024, 8:01 AM IST

Ahmedabad: Indian superstar Virat Kohli on Sunday dismissed the constant talk over his strike rate against spin in the middle overs, saying he knows his game better than those who question his approach.

Kohli upped his game against spinners to make 70 not out off 44 balls in Royal Challenger Bengaluru’s nine-wicket win over Gujarat Titans here on Sunday.

However, the likes of Sunil Gavaskar had questioned his lack of intent against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday when he made 51 off 43 balls. His knock was in stark contrast to Rajat Patidar’s uber aggressive 50 off 20 balls.

“There’s a reason why you do it for 15 years, for me, it’s just about doing my job. It’s kind of muscle memory for me now. People can talk anything they want to, they can talk about me not able to push on (strike rate) and me not playing spin well. But you yourself know the game better,” Kohli said after the match.

Despite back-to-back wins, RCB are languishing at the bottom of the table with three wins in 10 games.

“We wanted to play more for our self respect, we want to play for the fans who have backed us, we know we haven’t played up to the standards required (so far in the tournament), we know we can do a lot better and it’s something which we’ll try and do,” he said.

Talking about Jacks stunning hundred, he said, ‘Phenomenal, initially when he came to bat, he was annoyed that he wasn’t able to strike the ball as he wanted to. The only talk was for him to stay calm.

“We know how explosive he can be when he gets going. The over from Mohit was the game changer, I was just happy to stay around and watch him go.”

“I thought we would win in 19 overs, but to do it in 16 was absolutely brilliant. The wicket did start to get better as the first innings wore on, the ball was coming nicely onto the bat. We never dropped below ten an over through the innings.”

Player of the match Jacks said batting along with Kohli gave him confidence.

“Amazing feeling right now. I struggled early on, but Virat kept his intensity. I just kept going. It was trying to be positive. Once I got Mohit Sharma away, I relaxed. It’s amazing [to bat with Kohli).”

“To spend some time (with Kohli) in the middle is a huge feeling. It just gave me some confidence to hit my first six. Needed to more adaptable at the beginning. Just lucky today – 17 off 17 don’t win you many games!”

GT captain Shubman Gill admitted that his side would need to come up with better plans.

“It was great hitting by them. But having said that, we need to come up with better plans. At the end of the day what matters is how much you’ve got after 20 overs,” he said.

“We were not able to pick up wickets in the middle overs, which is one of our strengths.”