Rajasthan Royals (RR) fast bowler Sandeep Sharma humbly acknowledged that he has been fortunate to dismiss Virat Kohli seven times in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Despite being the tournament’s highest run-getter with 8,661 runs, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) talisman has found it difficult against Sandeep.
Against the RR seamer, Kohli averages just 18.90, though he has maintained an impressive strike rate of 150 while scoring those runs. Speaking to Crictracker about his record against the star batter, Sandeep admitted:
“I think I have been lucky and I have been asked this question so many times and always I have told that I have been lucky. I have dismissed him seven times. And out of those seven times, I think I have been lucky four times. I have been lucky more times in his case than any other bowler, I feel.”
“One time, he was out down the leg on a flick, another time LBW wrongly. Third, he was on 100 at Chinnaswamy, missed an over-pitched ball and got out long-off. Fourth, he played a perfect shot straight to Warner,” recalled Sandeep.
Sandeep Sharma names toughest IPL batters, Virat Kohli missing from the list
Sandeep Sharma left Virat Kohli out of his list of toughest IPL batters. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) pacer named former CSK star Suresh Raina as the most challenging in the powerplay, while he considered MS Dhoni and AB de Villiers the hardest to bowl to in the death overs.
“I feel it depends on which phase you’re bowling. For me, in powerplay, I felt Suresh Raina was the toughest batsman to bowl. He always came and dominated me, being a lefty. Left-handed batters have never dominated me in IPL, like consistently. One odd game, somebody scores runs. So, I felt Suresh Raina was the toughest batter, for me, to bowl in powerplay,” said Sandeep (via the aforementioned source).
He further continued:
“And in death, I would say MSD (MS Dhoni) and ABD (AB de Villiers). These two batters were like a nightmare when they were on their peak.”
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