Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden praised Virat Kohli after a match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Gujarat Titans (GT). Hayden said that the Indian team will benefit from Kohli’s experience in unfamiliar conditions during the T20 World Cup in 2024, which is scheduled to kickstart next month.
Matthew Hayden Backed Virat Kohli For T20I World Cup 2024
On Sunday, April 28, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, RCB registered a convincing 9-wicket win. Virat Kohli played an instrumental role in RCB’s win, scoring an unbeaten 70 runs from 44 balls. His stellar knock was laced with six boundaries and three sixes. The visiting team successfully chased down the 201-run target with four overs remaining.
After the game, Matthew Hayden said that India will benefit from Virat Kohli’s experience dealing with unfamiliar conditions during their group-stage matches in the USA. Hayden praised Kohli for adapting his game to improve his strike rate, especially by using sweep shots effectively.
“You have 4 games in the US (T20 World Cup). So, there’s that element of unknown. You need his experience. Sweep shot. Longevity in your career means you have to keep making the adjustments. And I think Virat Kohli did need to make adjustments for RCB Outside the first six, there were some issues around strike rate,” Hayden said on Star Sports after the match.
“Certainly, his strike rate was dropping. But, against the Afghan spin twins today, those sweep shots… that was typical of a great champion, to keep learning. That was an option to get off strike, to hit boundaries and to keep momentum in your favour and then, you can say ‘I am doing my job today, you need to do yours’,” he added.
In a post-match interview with the broadcaster, Virat Kohli addressed criticism about his strike rate. The former RCB captain highlighted his 15 years of experience in the game and his dedication to winning matches for the team.
“For me, it’s about winning the games for the team and there’s a reason why you’ve done it for 15 years, you’ve done this day in and day out, you’ve won games for your teams. I’m not quite sure, if you haven’t been in that situation yourself, to sit and talk about the game from the box,” Kohli said.
Virat Kohli will be next seen in action when Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on Gujarat Titans at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, May 4. RCB is currently sitting at the bottom of the table with three wins out of 10 matches.
