AHMEDABAD: India’s Virat Kohli on Sunday hit back at critics taking aim at his hitting prowess in T20 cricket after he slammed a match-winning unbeaten 70 off 44 balls in the Indian Premier League.
The in-form Kohli set up Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s chase of 201 before his younger partner Will Jacks blew away Gujarat Titans with his 41-ball 100 in Ahmedabad.
Kohli, who has now passed 500 runs in this edition, and England batsman Jacks put on an unbeaten stand of 166 to see Bengaluru home by nine wickets with four overs to spare.
But despite Kohli’s flowing form ahead of the T20 World Cup in June, pundits have raised concerns over his strike-rate as compared to a new breed of T20 batters, who deal in sixes.
“All the people who talk about strike rates and me not playing spin well are the ones talking about this stuff,” Kohli said in response to looking at his season stats.
“For me, it’s about winning the games for the team and there’s a reason why you’ve done it for 15 years. You’ve done this day in and day out, you’ve won games for your teams, I’m not quite sure that if you haven’t been in that situation yourself, to sit and talk about the game from the box.”
Called “King Kohli” for his prolific run-scoring, the star batter has a strike rate of 147.49 in 10 IPL innings. In contrast, Australia’s up and coming batter in Jake Fraser-McGurk has made 247 runs at a strike-rate of 237.50 for Delhi Capitals.
Kohli’s 51 in the previous match came in 43 balls, a contrast to teammate Rajat Patidar’s 20-ball 50 and former India quick RP Singh said the veteran batter was “slow.”
“For me, people can talk about their assumptions day in and day out, but those who have done it day in and day out, they know what’s happening and it’s a kind of muscle memory for me now,” said the 35-year-old Kohli.
Kohli struck the first century — his eighth in the IPL — of this edition earlier this month in 67 balls but the knock ended in a losing cause after Rajasthan Royals Jos Buttler hit 100 in 58 balls.
“I don’t want to be over-aggressive, want to keep the bowler guessing. They want me to go hard and get me out,” Kohli said after the knock on April 6.
“It’s just experience and maturity. I play the conditions and have the game ready.”
Bengaluru, who remain bottom of the 10-team table with just three wins in 10 matches, and Kohli still await their first IPL title.
India’s Kohli slams strike-rate talk and pundits ‘from the box’
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India’s Kohli slams strike-rate talk and pundits ‘from the box’
- Called “King Kohli” for his prolific run-scoring, the star batter has a strike rate of 147.49 in 10 IPL innings
- In contrast, Australia’s up and coming batter in Jake Fraser-McGurk has made 247 runs at 237.50 strike-rate
Al-Ahli confirm Asian Champions League Elite progress with emphatic 5-0 win over Al-Shorta
- Al-Ahli are joined in the next round by Tractor, who claimed a 2-1 win over Qatar’s Al-Duhail through a late goal by Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh
- The first eight finishers in the league phases in east and west Asia advance to the round of 16, which will be played in March, with the quarterfinals, semifinals and final in Saudi Arabia in April
BAGHDAD: Defending champions Al-Ahli cruised to a 5-0 win over Al-Shorta in Baghdad on Monday as the Saudi Pro League side confirmed their progress to the knockout rounds of the Asian Champions League Elite alongside Iran’s Tractor FC.
Goals from Roger Ibanez, Ivan Toney, Galeno, Saleh Abu Al-Shamat and Ziyad Al-Johani sealed a comfortable win for Matthias Jaissle’s side, who moved on to 13 points from six matches to guarantee a top-eight finish in the 12-team standings.
“We did well today and we go home with three points,” Ibanez said. “That’s the important part.”
Ibanez gave Al-Ahli the lead when he converted Toney’s cut-back in the 30th minute and the former Brentford striker doubled the lead when he raced onto a pass through the middle by Galeno soon after the restart.
Galeno converted from a tight angle and Al-Shamat and Al-Johani netted in the closing stages as Al-Ahli bounced back from a surprise loss to Sharjah FC last month.
Al-Ahli are joined in the next round by Tractor, who claimed a 2-1 win over Qatar’s Al-Duhail through a late goal by Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh.
Benjamin Bourigeaud had given Al-Duhail a 35th-minute lead from the penalty spot but Shojae Khalilzadeh levelled the scores and Hosseinzadeh hit the winner two minutes into stoppage time.
Tractor moved on to 14 points and second in the table behind Al-Hilal who recorded a sixth consecutive win in the competition with a 1-0 victory over Sharjah in the UAE.
Simone Inzaghi’s side had already confirmed their place in the next phase and picked up another three points when Malcom struck with nine minutes remaining.
Al-Gharafa kept their qualification hopes alive through a 1-0 win over Al-Wahda from the UAE with Seydou Sano scoring an 87th-minute winner for the Qatari side.
Al-Gharafa climbed to six points and ninth in the table while Al-Wahda, who have qualified, dropped to fourth.
The first eight finishers in the league phases in east and west Asia advance to the round of 16, which will be played in March, with the quarteRfinals, semifinals and final in Saudi Arabia in April.
