Already selected for India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad, Virat Kohli remains a big topic of discussion among fans and experts about his strike rate in T20 cricket. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batsman has been crucial to his team's victories on several occasions this season, but analysts have also attributed his poor strike rate to certain defeats. Sunil Gavaskar was one of those critics who questioned Kohli's intentions, but Pakistan legend Wasim Akram does not feel there is anything wrong with the RCB star.
Kohli himself responded to the critics a few days ago, hitting back at them over criticism of his strike rate and struggle against spinners, which led to a fiery tirade from Gavaskar on Saturday. However, Akram disagrees with Gavaskar.
“What criticism is he getting? That his team is losing. If the guy scores 100 at a strike rate of 150, isn't that fine? If the team had won, there wouldn't have been any criticism. Kohli was under pressure when he was captain, and he is under pressure even now. He is scoring, but one player cannot criticize the match unnecessarily… it is not fair, Kohli still has a lot of cricket left. Just think why their performances have been so inconsistent even after 16 years. Their batting is still good but their bowlers are weak,” Akram told Sportskeeda.
“Some people say the ground is short. But you already know that. Choose players based on that alone. It's the same ground where I played a Test in 1987. It's the same ground now,” he added.
Akram also shared his thoughts on the role of an 'anchor' in T20 cricket and said that with the way this IPL has gone, that profile seems done and dusted.
“When you look at this IPL, it feels like it's over. The way teams are scoring 270 runs, it seems. People are calling an anchor slow even when the strike rate is 150. When you look at the pitches and the performance, it seems like you have to hit from the first ball, you can't stop,” Akram said.
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