Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has questioned the ongoing notion that strike rate is important in T20 cricket, citing the fact that the role of an anchor in the batting order is more important. Kohli believes that people on the outside do not understand the difficulties in navigating the opponent bowlers after the powerplay which is why batters tend to take it slow.
"Yeah for sure (important anchor role). I completely agree with that, There are many people who because they have not been in that situation themselves, they look at the game differently," Kohli told Robin Uthappa in an interview for JioCinema.
"Suddenly when the powerplay is done, they will be like 'oh, they have started rotating the strike'. When you haven't lost a wicket in the powerplay, usually the best player comes on to bowl, you are trying to figure out what to do against him in the first two overs, so that you can get big ones in the last two overs of that guy and then rest of the innings become much easier," he added.
This might have been in response to when former New Zealand cricketer and current Indian Premier League (IPL) commentator Simon Doull said that batters should not play for 'personal milestones. "Virat Kohli took 10 balls to reach from 42 to 50. There is absolutely no room for personal milestones in this game anymore."
This was during Kohli's 44-ball 61 against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) earlier in the week. Kohli took just 25 balls to reach 42 but slowed the pace against the spinners Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi after the powerplay, taking 10 balls to get from 42 to 50 before he lost his wicket for 61 runs.
But it was Kohli who dominated a 96-run stand with Faf du Plessis, who was happy to play second fiddle.
Meanwhile, Kohli also revealed the reason for his 16-year loyalty to RCB, "It's been amazing. Why I value this journey with RCB so much is because for the first three years, before the retention happened, they backed me a lot. My only feedback to Rey Jennings who was the coach at that time was I want to bat at the top-order because I batted at No. 3 for India, and I would like to bat at No. 3."
Kohli will be looking to continue his good run when RCB host Delhi Capitals, who are winless in four matches, on Saturday in Bengaluru.
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