Former cricketer Daniel Vettori expressed his disappointment with Virat Kohli’s knock against the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season. The Indian cricketer scored a less than run-a-ball 30, at a strike rate of 90.91.
Virat Kohli has been struggling for form in the ongoing Indian Premier League season. He averages 21.60 in eleven matches, with a strike rate of 111.91. His lone fifty this season came against the Gujarat Titans. However, even during that knock his strike rate was a cause of concern.
Speaking on ESPNCricinfo’s T20 time out, Daniel Vettori expressed that Virat Kohli’s knock against Chennai Super Kings lacked intent. He pointed out that the batter did not look to bat aggressively. Vettori added that the 33-year-old talismanic run-scorer is at his best when he takes the aggressive batting route.
“But it just feels like it comes down to intent: at no stage did Kohli look like he was going for anything but a single. So, you plant your foot down the crease, and you wait for the ball to come. If the ball is in the right spot, you can’t manipulate a single. And Kohli at his best takes on off-spin because he’s aggressive, he hits them straight, and then he hits his hard ones,” said Daniel Vettori.
“So, it is all about intent. And maybe the loss of the wicket, the run-out of Maxwell just put him back in his cage, and he thought ‘I need to bat for an extended period of time’. But he is good enough to use his feet against Moeen Ali,” he added.
The last time Virat Kohli made more than 30 runs in an IPL innings and had a strike rate of less than 100 was in 2018 against KKR. #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/oRX46FI59T
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) May 4, 2022
Virat Kohli didn’t seem motivated – Ian Bishop
Former cricketer Ian Bishop also echoed Daniel Vettori’s thoughts. He expressed that Virat Kohli did not seem motivated, and was even going less than run-a-ball during the innings. Kohli’s 30-runs knock included three boundaries and a six. Bishop said,
“For a time, he wasn’t even going at a run-a-ball, or he was simply going at a run-a-ball. He didn’t get far, and he didn’t seem motivated. He hit one (six) over extra-cover off the seamer, and then he moved ahead to a run-a-ball before returning.”
“This is something we’ve seen with Virat throughout his career, not just this season. He’ll fly out – he didn’t fly out tonight – and then slow down, as I recall from last season and even from time to time internationally. As a result, I’m concerned,” Ian Bishop added.
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