Picture Credit: X/IPL
Virat Kohli has time and again been criticised over his batting ability, but the cricketer hasn’t been moved by any such comments. Off late, he was once again attacked over his strike rate despite scoring a century in the IPL 2024. But ahead of the crucial IPL 2024 match between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the batter openly spoke openly about a recent criticism that led to war of words between him and the former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar.
Speaking ahead of the RCB vs CSK on JioCinema, the Indian batter was quizzed about how he reacts to the outside noise. “How do you react to noise from external atmosphere,” he was asked, reigniting the Gavaskar versus Kolhi controversy. The 35-year-old was quick to respond as he fumed and said, “Mujhe react karne ki zarurat hi nahi hai. Mujhe pata hai mai ground pe kya kar sakta hu. Uske liye mujhe kisi ko batane ki zarurat nahi hai ki mai kaisa player hu, meri kya ability hai (I don’t have to react at all. I know what I can do on the ground. I don’t need to tell that to anyone, that what kind of player I am, what are my abilities),” Virat Kohli said.
The 35-year-old took a savage dig at Sunil Gavaskar when he added that he does not need any nod of appreciation or approval from any critics as he has learned everything with failures and experiences.
“Maine kabhi kisi se pucha nahi match kaise jitana hai. Maine khud se, situations mein dekh dekh ke, fail ho ho ke seekha hai. Toh ye by chance baat nahi hoti. Aap ne chalo ek (match) jita diya, do jita diye. But itne match agar baar baar aap wahan khade ho aur jita rahe jo, toh by chance nahi ho sakta (I never asked anyone how to win a match (for my team). I have learnt it by mysel by being in different situations, by failing. This doesn’t happen by chance. Okay, you won one match for the team, or two. But of you are standing there and winning it repeatedly, then it can’t happen by chance), he further added.”
Watch Virat Kohli fume over critics’ comments on his strike rate:
The former RCB and India captain, Virat Kohli despite being under the radar for his strike rate, leads the charts for the Orange Cap with 661 runs from 13 innings in IPL 2024. In his 13 innings, the stalwart has scored one century and five fifties at an average of 66.10 and a strike rate of 155.16.
