“What Virat Kohli Can Do…” – Gautam Gambhir Opines On RCB Batter’s Strike Rate
Virat Kohli’s strike rate has been a debate in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) and even former India opener and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mentor Gautam Gambhir has opined on the same during an interview.
The announcement of the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 is expected anytime soon as the BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar met India captain Rohit Sharma on the sidelines of the Delhi Capitals v Mumbai Indians IPL 2024 match in Delhi on Saturday.
Many of the spots in the Indian team have been more or less confirmed including the top three of the Men in Blue batting order. Rohit Sharma, the captain is expected to open the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal and legendary batter Virat Kohli is more or less set to bat at no.3.
This is despite the fact, that Kohli is opening the innings for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the ongoing IPL 2024.
“Every player has a different game”- Gautam Gambhir on Virat Kohli’s strike rate
However, there has been a lot said about Virat Kohli’s strike rate. Kohli is the Orange Cap holder in the race for most runs in IPL 2024. He has 430 runs in 9 games with one century and 3 fifties. His highest score has been 113*, with an average of 61.43, and has a strike rate of 145.76.
In comparison, DC’s Jake Fraser-McGurk has a strike rate of 237.50, Abhishek Sharma has 218.18, Travis Head has 212.42, and Sunil Narine has 184.02.
Speaking on the same subject on Sportskeeda.com, Gautam Gambhir explained the importance of context in terms of match situation, conditions, and venue. Gambhir has great respect for Kohli and has been vocal about how competitive the two individuals are to let their respective teams win the game.
“Every player has a different game. What Maxwell can do, Kohli cannot and what Kohli can do, Maxwell cannot. You need to have different types of batters in your XI. If from No.1 to No.8 you stack it up with explosive batters, you may score 300 but also get bowled out for 30.
When you win, even a strike rate of 100 is good. but when you lose despite having a strike rate of 180, no one talks about it. That is the reality. Strike rate is directly related to conditions, opposition, venue, match situation,” Gambhir said.
