RCB star opener Virat Kohli currently wears the Orange Cap in IPL 2024 for being the leading run-scorer of the season so far. In five innings, the 35-year-old has scored 318 runs at an average of 105 and has notched up two fifties and a century.
However, are Virat Kohli’s runs really helping RCB? Is his batting for longer periods of play and at a sub-par strike rate adding more pressure on his batting partners, who more often succumb while trying to play a big shot while Kohli trudges along steadily and struggles often in the middle overs?
Despite scoring a century against Rajasthan Royals, Virat Kohli is facing a lot of criticism and labels for being “selfish” and “century-obsessed”?
Virat Kohli should be given a “Turtle Cap” for joint-slowest IPL century
This criticism is not invalid either: Kohli was 87(58) in the 16th over, and then took 10 more balls to score his next 13 runs to reach his century. His 67-ball century is now the joint-slowest ton in the history of the IPL.
And even though he hit three fours in the last over, RCB could reach 183, which was under-par considering dew and RCB’s ordinary bowling attack.
On the other hand, Jos Buttler aced the chase with his 58-ball century. Buttler’s partnership of 148 (86) [that is a strike rate of 172] effectively sealed the match for RR by the 14th over of their chase.
What Kohli’s slowdown in the middle-overs – he was tied down by Chahal and Ashwin – also did was put more pressure on his batting partners – Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, and Saurav Chauhan – to go after the RR bowlers from the get-go, which they failed to do in that period of play and succumbed.
Seeing this knock from Virat Kohli, a fan tweeted, “If bowlers can get ‘Purple Cap’ for taking wickets, Virat Kohli also deserves ‘Turtle Cap’ for playing slow.”
Also Read: IPL 2024: Ian Bishop Apologises For Taking A Dig On Virat Kohli In Commentary
