IPL 2024: Former Australia great bats for Virat Kohli after Sunil Gavaskar’s criticism

The recent discussion surrounding Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star batter Virat Kohli’s innings against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2024 has sparked contrasting opinions within the cricket fraternity. While some experts and fans scrutinised Kohli’s strike rate during his knock of 51 off 43 balls, former Australian captain Aaron Finch has come to his defense. As per finch, the tactical considerations influenced Kohli’s approach.

Earlier, former India great Sunil Gavaskar had slammed Kohli for his poor strike rate.

“In the middle, Kohli just seemed to have lost touch. I am not sure of the exact numbers, but I think from 31-32 to the time he got out, he did not hit a boundary. So at the end of the day, when you are facing the strike in the first ball of the innings and you get out in the 14th or the 15th over, you have got a strike rate of 118, that’s not what your team expects from you,” said Gavaskar.

However, Finch threw his weight behind Kohli. The former Australia great highlighted the partnership dynamics between Kohli and Rajat Patidar during their innings.

“One thing you have to keep in mind is that Patidar was going crazy at the other end. Sometimes your job as a set batter is to take the game a little bit deeper and get Patidar on strike as much as possible. That’s where the intent to hit boundaries goes out. You can look at him in isolation and say, ‘Yes, it dropped’. But as a partnership, it worked really well. Kohli did the right thing by getting Patidar up there,” said Finch.