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Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opener Virat Kohli hit back at his critics after the commanding nine-wicket win over Gujarat Titans (GT) at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on April 28. While Kohli has held on to the orange cap for a few weeks in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), his strike rate has been under the radar as they feel that the former Indian skipper has not adapted to the new brand of T20 cricket.
“Not really, all the people who talk about strike-rates and me not playing spin well are the ones talking about this stuff. For me, it's about winning the games for the team and there's a reason why you've done it for 15 years, you've done this day in and day out, you've won games for your teams, I'm not quite sure that if you haven't been in that situation yourself, to sit and talk about the game from the box. For me, people can talk about their assumptions day in and day out, but those who have done day in and day out, they know what's happening and it's a kind of muscle memory for me now.,” he told the broadcasters.
Kohli also rued missed opportunities in the season as RCB hang on to playoffs hopes by a thread. He feels that now the players are playing for self-respect.
“We wanted to step up for ourselves, play for our self respect. We can't be playing the way we played in the first half of the tournament, we wanted to see the ball as well, we are attacking way more, the fielders are putting their bodies on the line, that's the way we want to play. We haven't been up to standards so far except the last two games, but we just want to continue the same way, we have a great atmosphere in the dressing room. We want to play for ourselves, have some self respect as to why we're playing at this level and also for the fans who've been supporting us,” he added.
Kohli did not slow down in the run chase when spinners were introduced. He smashed left-arm spinner Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore for two sixes in the sixth over. He did not slow down in the run chase and hit Afghan spinner Noor Ahmad for a four and a six. He remained unbeaten for 70 off 44 balls as Will Jacks finished the run chase with an excellent display of power-hitting to reach his maiden IPL ton. Kohli lauded his batting partner with whom he shared an unbeaten 166-run partnership for the second wicket.
“Phenomenal, I mean when he initially came onto bat (on Jacks), he was a bit annoyed that he wasn't able to strike the ball as cleanly as he wanted to, but the only conversation between us in the middle was to keep backing, keep committing because we know how explosive he can be. My role completely changed as soon as he got that big over off Mohit, for good, I was glad to be watching the game from the other end. I mean, I thought we could win the game in 19 overs, but to finish it in 16 overs was an outstanding effort. I think it was one of the better T20I hundreds one would ever see, I was just happy to watch it closely from the other end,” the 35-year-old said.
He has 500 runs from 10 games at an average of 71.43 including one century and four half-centuries. His strike rate is 147.49. This is the seventh time he has scored 500 or more runs in an IPL season.
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