Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are having a terrific run in the 14th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021). They were the third team to reach the playoff spot after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Delhi Capitals (DC). However, despite RCB’s success, their skipper Virat Kohli has not been immune to criticism as he is yet to produce a fiery knock at the top of the order that he is known for. The dashing batsman has scored 362 runs in 13 games for his team in IPL 2021 at a healthy average of 30.16 and strike rate of 121.6.
The biggest concern of Kohli’s critics has been his strike rate. However, veteran Indian opener and two times IPL winning captain Gautam Gambhir has come in the support of Kohli.
“Strike rates are very overrated,” Gambhir said when asked about Kohli’s striker rate.“You can expect Kohli to have a 600-run season but you can’t expect that from Maxwell,” he added.
He also added that Maxwell will not bat a strike rate of 120-125 while Kohli will not bat the strike rate of 160, as both players have different playing styles.
Gambhir also feels that if Kohli will start looking to maintain a higher strike rate by deserting his natural playing style, it would be difficult for the right-handed batsman to score “a lot of runs” as “he doesn’t have the same power or skill as ABD or Maxwell.”
