Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar responded to Virat Kohli’s criticism of commentators who questioned his strike rate during the ongoing 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Sunil Gavaskar asked why players like Virat Kohli respond to outside criticism when they claim not to listen to it.
Virat Kohli came under scrutiny during the tournament for his strike rate outside the powerplay, particularly against spinners. Fans and pundits criticized the former RCB captain as Sanjay Manjrekar excluded him from his preferred Indian squad for the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup in June.
After RCB’s win against Gujarat Titans (GT), Kohli slammed his critics for questioning his strike rate. He explained that it was easy to analyze the game from the commentary box without experiencing the situation himself. Kohli scored an unbeaten 70 off 44 balls, including 61 runs against spin at a strike rate of 179.
They have a strike rate of 188 – Sunil Gavaskar
During the pre-match show on Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar suggested that applause for a strike rate of 118 in a T20 match might be unwarranted.
“Commentators were only interviewed when the hit rate was 118. I am not completely sure. I don’t watch too many games, so I don’t know what the other commentators said differently. But if you have a strike rate of 118 and then you come out on the 14th or 15th with a strike rate of 118, I mean, if you want applause for that, it’s a little different.” Gavaskar said.
Virat Kohli scored 42 runs off 27 balls in RCB’s recent game against GT in Bengaluru on Saturday, May 4, with the help of two fours and four sixes. The home team chased down the 148-run target with four wickets with 38 balls left. increase their chances of reaching the playoffs in IPL 2024.
You’ve shown it often enough – Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar criticized the broadcasters for repeatedly showing Virat Kohli’s post-match interview. He alleged that the interview was shown excessively and called for a change in their broadcasting approach.
“This particular post-match interview used to be shown on this channel as well and now, since 6pm, it has probably been shown half a dozen times on this particular broadcast. I hope that they recognize this, that and that.” is shown, the critics are commentators. I think they showed it enough times, everyone got the message. Gavaskar added.
There is no way Gavaskar owned both Star Sports and Kohli on live TV 🤣😭 pic.twitter.com/IiBQaeqRjV
— Developer 🇮🇳 (@time__square) May 4, 2024
We have no plans – Sunil Gavaskar
The 74-year-old questioned why Virat was reacting to outside noises even though he claimed he wasn’t paying attention to it. Gavaskar emphasized that commentators don’t necessarily have likes and dislikes, but rather talk about what is happening.
“When you talk about all these guys, oh, we don’t care about the outside noise, duh. Then why are you responding to any outside noise or whatever? We’ve all played a bit of cricket, not a lot of cricket.” “We have no intentions about what we see.” Gavaskar concluded.
Virat Kohli had an exceptional season with the bat, scoring 542 runs at an impressive average of 67.75 and a strike rate of 148.09. He hit four half-centuries and one century. However, the team led by Faf du Plessis is in seventh place in the table and has only won four games in eleven games.
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