Virat Kohli was one hit away from surpassing Riyan Parag in the Orange Cap standings of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 when Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) hosted Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Tuesday. The former RCB skipper has served some timely reminders of his T20 exploits in the initial stages of the cash-rich league. The former RCB captain played a stroke-filled knock of 83 off 59 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
However, Kohli‘s knock went in vain as Shreyas Iyer and Co. chased down the 183-run target in just 16.5 overs. The former India skipper batted at a strike rate of 140.68 against the two-time champions. Though Kohli remained the highest run-getter of the contest, his strike rate came under scrutiny following RCB’s defeat at home. Coming out in support of Kohli, former Australian cricketer David Hussey silenced the critics of the ex-RCB skipper, who questioned his T20 credentials in the IPL.
‘Don’t think Kohli is going to have too many issues’
“Virat Kohli is the leading run scorer, isn’t he in the IPL currently?” Hussey responded when he was asked about the strike rate debate during the announcement of the launch of Melbourne Cricket Academy, a partnership between Cricket Victoria and KheloMore. “He’s a pretty good player. I don’t think he’s going to have too many issues. If you see the strike rate in this IPL, he seems to have taken his game to a new level, he’s evolved again. You never write off champions, like you never write off Steve Smith, (like) you never write off Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma…,” he added.
‘You never write them off’
Kohli remained unbeaten on 83 off 59 balls against KKR at Bengaluru. The former RCB skipper was named the Player of the Match for his gritty knock of 77 off 49 balls against Punjab Kings. Kohli is the joint-highest run-getter in the Orange Cap standings. The 2016 Orange Cap winner has scored 181 runs in four games at the IPL 2024. “You never write them off and I’m certain that Virat Kohli is going to come out in the next World Cup and be the dominant force that he has been for the better part of a decade. Never write off your champions,” Hussey added.
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