Royal Challengers Bengaluru talisman Virat Kohli continues to meet the demands of the modern T20 game. He altered his approach at the top of the order for RCB last season, holding the powerful batting together, and played a similar role once again this year. He scored 675 runs at an average of 165.84, and former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar lauded how Kohli improved his tempo while maintaining consistency.
“At this stage, watching him in this tournament, he has mastered the art of T20 batting that is needed in IPL cricket. Which means now he knows that he has to score at a 150 to 160 strike rate. So he cashes in the first six overs. The most important thing is that he has found this power game, which is just about optimum. It’s almost like he is in third and fourth gear, while the others are trying to hit at a strike rate of 200 and 230,” Manjrekar said on his Instagram channel.
“Because of that, there are mishits, and they have to be lucky with someone dropping a catch, and then their innings flourish. Virat Kohli has ensured that there aren’t any mishits because he’s just hitting the ball long enough to go over the boundary, thereby ensuring his technique and balance are right. The bottom hand jab comes into play,” he added.
“When hitting boundaries, Kohli is still big on fours rather than sixes as he does in white-ball international cricket. Having mastered the art of T20 batting, I don’t see it quickly fading away from Kohli. He will keep working on his fitness, and he has found this template to be consistent and go with the modern times of strike rate. This form of Virat Kohli will be there for a while, and thereby, RCB will be very fortunate and, in a way, very deserving as well,” Manjrekar observed.
