As the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season reaches a decisive stage, Virat Kohli’s pace of scoring runs has left fans and pundits divided. Though the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Stalwart has been hailed by many for his consistency in scoring runs, there remain those too who aren’t impressed by his strike-rate, especially in the middle overs. As Kohli’s side prepares to take on Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede on Tuesday, a concerning stat has emerged highlighting the contrasting strike-rate that Kohli has had home and away.
In total, Virat has played 6 games at home and 4 away in the 16th edition of the IPL so far. In the home matches, the 34-year-old has 253 runs to his name at a strike-rate of 149.70.
But, Kohli’s strike-rate takes a massive dip in away games, with the veteran batter scoring 166 runs at a strike-rate of 117.73.
Even the number of sixes scored home and away varies by quite a distance. The talismanic batter has hit a total of 10 sixes at M Chinnaswamy stadium in 169 balls. But, has only managed to hit a single maximum in 141 balls in away matches.
As Kohli’s strike-rate continues to draw reactions, even former India head coach Ravi Shastri said that the talismanic batter needs to be better in terms of keeping his temp up.
“Once you gain tempo, don’t change, don’t worry about the others. That will be my message to Virat. Let them do their job. In a T20 game, you don’t need that many batsmen. If you are hot keep that going. Prime example of that was Phil Salt. You saw the way he batted. Once he got into the groove he didn’t let go.
“It took the pressure off the other batsmen. Having said, even they were hammering whether it was Marsh or Roussow. So that is something that could be there from Virat’s point of view. If he gets going don’t change your tempo, try and up the ante,” Shastri explained, as per ESPNCricinfo, after RCB’s match against Delhi Capitals.
With the match against Mumbai being an ‘away game’, Kohli’s intent and approach will be in the spotlight once again.
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