The Indian Premier League (IPL) has returned for its 17th season, and the league has captured the attention of fans across the world. Many have tuned into the league just to watch its star players, and one of those is undoubtedly Virat Kohli.
Bet here on IPL 2024 and other cricket matches!
Kohli has represented Royal Challengers Bengaluru in each IPL season, and has become one of the league and the country's biggest stars. Now 35, many have suggested he may begin winding down his career, but his form in this season's tournament says otherwise.
'They’re just pushing an agenda' - Virat Kohli's former coach slams critics
Kohli has begun this season with 316 runs in 5 matches, 125 ahead of the next highest tally, 191 runs by Gujarat Titans' Sai Sudharsan. In RCB's last match, he scored 113* in an innings where the next highest score was 44, but this has not impressed everyone.
MORE: Five overseas players to watch out for in IPL 2024
In the course of his ton against Rajasthan, Kohli notched an unwanted record for the IPL's joint-slowest century, in 67 balls. In an era where scoring rates are higher than ever, this prompted more criticism of his strike rate, and his suitability for the modern T20 game. Kohli's childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma, slammed these critics on Wednesday. Speaking to India News, he said,
Look, this is a lobby which is running an agenda. They’re just pushing an agenda, and as fans or true analysts, we don’t care about their agenda. See, the king will always be the king. A person who knows even the ‘C’ of cricket would never do such nonsense.
People who are saying this nonsense, I think they don’t know the context of the match, what the situation of the match was and how the team was struggling. They speak only to be in the news. Just because whenever you speak about a normal player, it does not bring you in the news headlines, but if you speak about a player like Virat Kohli, it brings you in the news headlines.
Kohli's record in T20 cricket is an enviable one, but in an era where hitting is the norm and specialised skills like destructive ability against pace or spin are required, there are doubts over how much space can be afforded to touch players like him.
| Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | High Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPL | 242 | 7579 | 38.3 | 130.6 | 113 |
| T20I | 117 | 4037 | 51.8 | 138.2 | 122* |
If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Learn more >