Virat Kohli's knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday, April 25, 2024, sparked debate. While he notched his 53rd IPL fifty, the 43 balls it took on a good Hyderabad pitch raised eyebrows.
Sunil Gavaskar and Simon Katich both panned Kohli's approach.
'In the middle, he just seemed to have lost touch...So at the end of the day, when he gets out...when you are facing the strike in the first ball of the innings and you get out in the 14th or the 15th over, you have got a strike rate of 118, that's not what your team expects from you,' Gavaskar told Star Sports.
Katich credited Rajat Patidar for taking the initiative while Kohli struggled, suggesting Kohli's approach cost the Royal Challengers Bengaluru a higher total.
'Yeah, there is no doubt he lost impetus...Virat Kohli probably needed to do that (hit boundaries). I think that the sub 120 strike rate probably cost RCB 220-plus against SunRisers. Against SRH, 206 on the board might not be enough,' Katich said.
Kohli started well, reaching 32 off 18 balls in the Powerplay. However, his scoring slowed after the fielding restrictions were relaxed, with just 19 runs coming from his last 25 balls.
This dip in strike rate and lack of boundaries after the Powerplay became the crux of the commentary from both Gavaskar and Katich.
Here are the reactions on social media:
