‘He deserves a…’: Gavaskar silences Kohli’s critics with hard-hitting remark | Cricket

Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar had nothing but absolute praise for run-machine Virat Kohli, who is all set to lead the batting charge of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their blockbuster meeting with MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Monday. Four-time winners CSK will meet Faf du Plessis’ RCB side in match No.25 of the IPL 2203 at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.

A leading candidate in the race for the prestigious Orange Cap, RCB icon Kohli’s batting strike rate was questioned by former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull. Popular commentator Doull slammed Kohli for safeguarding ‘personal milestone’ during RCB’s IPL 2023 match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Hitting back at his critics, Kohli played a quick-fire knock against Delhi Capitals (DC) in RCB’s previous match at the IPL 2023.

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The former RCB skipper also took an aim at his critics with his aggressive celebration. Talking about an in-form batter in the lead-up to RCB’s match against CSK in the cash-rich league, batting legend Gavaskar credited Kohli for providing Bangalore with flying starts.”Virat Kohli is giving RCB flying starts at the start of the innings. He deserves a lot of credit for the starts RCB is getting and the runs the team is managing to post on the board because of his starts. These are good signs for RCB,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.

Sharing her views ahead of the mouthwatering clash between Chennai and Bangalore, former India skipper Mithali Raj also lauded Kohli for his match-winning knock against Delhi Capitals. “An opener setting momentum for team is important in T20s and Virat did just that against Delhi Capitals. Virat charges against the bowlers who are bowling at a speed of 140/150 kmph. He’s never bogged down by the bowlers. The strike rate with which he’s scoring runs in the middle will give the confidence to the other batters to do well when they step in,” the former Indian skipper had said.

Kohli completed his half-century in 33 balls and the star batter also achieved a major milestone during RCB’s match against DC. The ex-RCB skipper completed 2,500 IPL runs at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium. The 34-year-old has scored the most IPL runs (2,539) at a single venue in the history of IPL. Kohli’s 50-run knock sealed RCB’s 23-run win over DC at Bengaluru.