Virat Kohli’s approach as an opener continues to polarise opinions. IPL 2024 has seen 200-plus totals becoming a norm rather a rarity with teams consistently posting high totals and chasing them down with relative ease.
Recently, Kohli had hit back at the criticism over his strike-rate as an opener – 148.09 after 11 innings – when the likes of Travis Head (194.12), Abhishek Sharma (208.6), Phil Salt (180.45), Sunil Narine (179.25) have been setting the pace.
Fast bowling legend Wasim Akram differs though and feels that Kohli’s criticism is unfair and it has to do with his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru not doing well.
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As per Akram, if RCB were winning, there would have been no criticism over Kohli’s strike-rate.
“What is the criticism about? It’s for his team losing,” Akram told Sportskeeda. “If a guy scores a hundred and his strike-rate is around 150, then it’s fine. If the team was winning, there would have been no criticism. Captain or no captain Kohli has always been under pressure but he continues to score. One guy cannot win you matches. It’s unfair to criticise him for no reason.”
Akram praised Kohli for setting the standards with his consistent performances over the years, terming him as a role model of the current generation.
“He’s (Kohli) a role model of this generation, on and off the field. Be it his performance, fitness, consistency, anything. Be it his followers on social media, he looks good, talks well, natural born leader and a match winner,” he said.
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However, Akram does feel that the trend of teams going all guns blazing from the first to the last delivery has put into question the role of an anchor.
“Looking at this IPL, it seems the role of an anchor is done with considering the manner in which 270-280 are being scored and chased. Average score is 200. This IPL, an anchor, scoring at a strike-rate of 150 appears slow. Maybe, as per pitches and the performances so far, you have to start hitting from the first ball itself without the fear of getting out. Anchor’s role has diminished,” he said.
“Maybe RCB will have to follow the lead. Lose match quickly but follow other teams,” he quipped.
RCB have recently overcome their slump with a hat-trick of wins to lift themselves up from the bottom of the IPL standings and keep their slim chances of making it to the playoffs alive.
“I think, in the long run, RCB will have to think why they have been so consistently bad. It’s been 16 years now. Their batting has been good, bowling is where they struggle. Some are saying their ground (home venue) is small. But this is something you know beforehand and you should pick players accordingly. Small boundaries are for every team. When I played my first Test in 1987, the ground was the same. RCB fans are quite loyal and the team must think about them,” Akram said.
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