After Virat Kohli’s poised knock of 61 runs in 44 balls, the entire cricketing fraternity was divided over this knock. While hailed him for being extremely consistent with the willow, others criticized him for this slow knock.
Former New Zealand cricketer and now cricket pundit Simon Doull has now criticized Kohli heavily for the nature of his innings.
Doull highlighted that Kohli was concerned about his half-century and he took a while to go from 42 to 50.
“Virat Kohli took 10 balls to reach from 42 to 50. There is absolutely no room for personal milestones in this game anymore. I don’t think there’s any room for that in this format,” said Simon Doull on air.
Former Pakistani skipper and opening batter Salman Butt has now extended his support to Kohli and has slammed Doull for his statement. He has also said that the Kiwi commentator had said similar things about Pakistan skipper Babar Azam when he had come to Pakistan for commentary.
“When he was in Pakistan, he had said similar things about Babar Azam, If he had watched the game consciously, he would’ve noticed that Kohli tried to hit Bishnoi three-four times but he missed. That is part of the game. He has 75 centuries in international cricket,” said Salman Butt on his YouTube channel.
“Virat Kohli isn’t fighting for a place in RCB”: Salman Butt
Salman Butt highlighted the fact that some class players in the form of Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and AB De Villiers are known for scoring runs consistently and not for sloggin the deliveries.
“He has achieved so much. He doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone. He is not fighting for a place in the RCB team. Is he so much in need to get 50 or show the world that he is good to the world by scoring another fifty?
It’s rubbish. It’s utter rubbish. What is he trying to achieve by speaking like this? He has played cricket, but he was a bowler,” said Salman Butt.
“For God’s sake, get a life. You can’t speak like this about an established player. Be it Kane Williamson, Babar Azam, or Virat Kohli, these guys are not sloggers. They respect the good balls and then make up for it by going for big shots.
Their frequency of big scores is just because they don’t give away their wickets; they value their wickets highly,” he added.
The game between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants went right down to the wire and it was a humdinger. LSG eventually kept their nerves and won the game in the last delivery.
RCB next cross swords with Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on 15th April 2023. It will be played from 3:30 PM (IST).
Also read: IPL 2023: 3 Talking Points In The Game Between Chennai Super Kings & Rajasthan Royals
