During the game between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 10, Virat Kohli scored yet another half-century in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was Kohli's second fifty of the ongoing season and jam-packed M Chinnaswamy Stadium enjoyed every bit of Kohli's knock. But former New Zealand cricketer-turned-commentator Simon Doull was not pleased by the stylish batter's approach.
At one stage, Kohli was batting on 42 runs off 25 balls but then, he took 10 balls to get to his half-century, something that left the commentator unimpressed. The veteran pundit didn't mince his words and 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," Doull said during the commentary on Star Sports.
Reacting to Doull's remark on air, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt came to Kohli's defence and lashed out at the Kiwi commentator, asking him to 'get a life'.
"When he was in Pakistan, he had said similar things about Babar Azam," Salman Butt said on his YouTube channel.
"If he had watched the game consciously, he would've noticed that Kohli tried to hit Bishnoi three-four times but he missed. That is part of the game. He has 75 centuries in international cricket.
"He has achieved so much. He doesn't have to prove anything to anyone. He is not fighting for a place in the RCB team. Is he so much in need to get 50 or show the world that he is good to the world by scoring another fifty? It's rubbish. It's utter rubbish. What is he trying to achieve by speaking like this? He has played cricket, but he was a bowler.
"For God's sake, get a life. You can't speak like this about an established player. Be it Kane Williamson, Babar Azam or Virat Kohli, these guys are not sloggers. They respect the good balls and then make up for it by going for big shots. Their frequency of big scores is just because they don't give away their wickets, they value their wickets highly.
"Maybe, for attention, he is doing that. I think it's sending out the wrong message to the listeners and the fans. It's strange, it's beyond out of proportion," Butt concluded.
Kohli was eventually dismissed for 61 runs off 44 balls by Amit Mishra. The former RCB captain has scored 164 runs in three matches at an average of 82 in IPL 2023. Kohli has also registered two half-centuries this season so far.
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