‘Strike rate’ has emerged as a prominent subject in Indian cricket following former India captain Sunil Gavaskar‘s harsh criticism of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batsman Virat Kohli on Saturday.
This comes after Kohli responded sharply to critics in a fiery interview last week during IPL 2024 regarding the scrutiny over his slow scoring rate in T20 cricket.
Amidst the controversy, Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul made a significant reversal in his previous stance on strike rate when questioned about his updated approach in the ongoing season.
Rahul’s more restrained strategy in T20 cricket has frequently drawn criticism, yet the Indian batsman has consistently maintained that the concept of strike rate in the shortest format is a “hyped” subject.
“Look, I think strike rate is very, very overrated. For me, it’s only about how I can win games for my team,” Rahul, who was then the skipper of Kings XI Punjab, said in 2020.
Three years later, he reiterated his stance prior to the commencement of the 2023 IPL season for Lucknow Super Giants, stating that: “Strike rate depends upon the demand, like if you chase 140 – you don’t need to go with 200 strike rate – it depends upon the current situation.”
However, when questioned on Sunday about his revised approach as an opener for LSG this season, Rahul acknowledged that with the evolving dynamics of the game, where scores of 220 are nearly becoming customary, strike rate has emerged as a crucial factor.
“There’s been a lot of talk about strike-rates and the format is changing. Even 220 is now safe. It is evolving,” said Rahul after LSG won the toss and opted to bowl first.
During the IPL 2024 season, Rahul has accumulated 406 runs in 10 matches for Lucknow Super Giants, maintaining a strike rate of 142.96.
What is the Sunil Gavaskar versus Virat Kohli strike rate dispute?
Earlier on Saturday, Gavaskar was furious with Kohli, who had strongly criticized his detractors regarding his strike rate against spinners after his innings of 70 not out off 44 balls against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad last week.
Speaking on-air, the former India opener emphasized that commentators only scrutinized him when he got dismissed before the slog overs, despite having a strike rate below 120.
“Commentators questioned only when the strike rate was 118. I’m not too sure. I don’t watch too many matches, so I don’t know what the other commentators have said otherwise.”
“But if you have a strike of 118 and then you get out in the 14th or the 15th with a strike-rate of 118, I mean, if you want applause for that, that’s a little bit different. That’s different,” he told Star Sports.
Gavaskar also criticized Kohli for reacting to “external criticism,” as cricketers often mention that they pay little attention to what critics say about their performance.
“All these guys talk about, oh we don’t care about outside noise. Then why are you replying to any outside noise or whatever it is. We all played a bit of cricket, not a lot of cricket. And We don’t have agendas.”
“We speak about what we see. We don’t necessarily have any likes and dislikes. Even if we have likes and dislikes, we actually speak on what is happening,” added Gavaskar.
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