Star batsman of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Virat Kohli recently reacted strongly to critics who criticized him for his strike rate in T20 cricket. The former Indian captain stressed that his focus remains on winning games for his team and not on individual statistics.
The dashing right-hander also recalled his 15-year track record of consistent performance and highlighted his contribution in the team’s victory. Kohli is currently the leading run-scorer in the ongoing IPL 2024, with 500 runs in 10 innings for RCB at a strike rate of 147.
However, former New Zealand cricketer-turned-commentator Simon Doull feels that Kohli should avoid engaging in comments on social media. The former New Zealand pacer further said that Kohli’s comments showed that he may be influenced by what he reads online about his strike rate and wondered why he should bother with such negativity given his stellar career as a cricketer.
Doull wondered how someone of Kohli’s caliber would pay heed to criticism on social media and urged the RCB star to focus on his game and not on the noise from outside. He also feels that Kohli’s tendency to address such criticisms in post-match interviews suggests that he or someone close to him is actively monitoring the feedback on social media, which is completely unnecessary.
Simon Doull told Cricbuzz: “It’s interesting that he comes back to these things because they won’t ask him. Are you looking for your hit rate? Those won’t be the questions. Obviously he reads social media or someone reads all the social media about him. And he does that quite often in post-game presentations when he has something to say.”
Doull added: “About things that are written about him. Why is he bothering you? I mean, seriously, the guy is such a good player. Why does he bother to read the nonsense some people write, or why do people read him and tell him? I do not understand that? I’m just looking at what he did and why bother reading social media and pointing it out in interviews? If he reads social media, he should have better things to do.”
Virat Kohli and RCB have a different story in IPL 2024
It is noteworthy that Virat Kohli was recently named in India’s squad for the upcoming season T20 World Cup 2024, which is set to play in the US and West Indies next month. He is the all-time top scorer in the Men’s T20 World Cup, with 1141 runs in 27 matches played for Team India so far.
The dashing right-hander is currently in top form with the bat in the ongoing IPL 2024. He has already amassed 500 runs for RCB this season and it was the seventh time he reached 500 runs in the tournament, the only second player to achieve the feat.
However, RCB is struggling to win games in the ongoing IPL 2024 where they have won only 3 of their 10 games in the tournament. RCB are currently ranked 10th in the standings and will face Gujarat Titans (GT) in their next IPL 2024 match on May 4 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.