Picture Credit: Twitter
Syed Saba Karim, the former Indian cricketer, has made a startling comment recently that the T20 game has moved on from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. His reaction came after watching Yashasvi Jaiswal and Suryakumar Yadav recent blitz in IPL 2023 for Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians respectively.
He took to Twitter to give his opinion about T20 batsmanship and wrote, “When one sees Jaiswal and SKY bat, it is amply clear that T20 game has moved on from Rohit sharma and Virat Kohli!!”
The tweet from Saba Karim came in the aftermath of Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 98 not out off 47 deliveries against Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, laced with 12 fours and five maximums all over the Eden Gardens. The young opening batter for Rajasthan Royals has scored 575 runs in 12 matches at an incredible average and strike-rate of 52.27 and 167.15 respectively, in the current edition of the tournament, with one century and four half-centuries.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav, who had a slow start to his IPL 2023 campaign, is fast catching up on the top run scoring charts. He has gotten 376 runs in 11 matches at a decent average of 34.18 and a mind-blowing strike-rate of 186.13, including four fifties.
According to the thought process behind Syed Saba Karim’s tweet, both Yashasvi Jaiswal and SKY are redefining the way T20 batting should be approached, in stark contrast to Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who are playing traditional form of cricket in the shortest format with lacklustre results, especially in the strike-rate department.
The captain of Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma, has scored 191 runs in 11 matches at a poor strike-rate of 124.84. Meanwhile, the former captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Virat Kohli has fared better in comparison to his Indian teammate, putting together 420 runs in 12 matches at an average of 42.00, but at a mediocre strike-rate of 133.76.