Despite Virat Kohli having a significant lead in the run-scoring charts for the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League, the Indian batting star continues to be questioned regarding his strike rate ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 in June. The former Indian opening batter and T20 World Cup winner, Gautam Gambhir jumped to defend his former Indian teammate.
Currently, the mentor for the Kolkata Knight Riders, the two-time IPL winning captain had spoken in a video uploaded by Sportskeeda Cricket where he revealed that results will dictate where a side would be coming up short.
“Everything boils down to whether your team is winning matches or not. If your team is winning, then no one talks about it, if you lose you are criticised for it. You try to narrow down the reasons why the team is losing and also every player’s game is different. What ex-players can do or what Maxwell can do, Virat might not be able to do that,” said Gambhir.
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The former KKR skipper also highlighted the need for players who provide something unique to add to the variety of the team rather than making the team too predictable.
He added,” If you have a team where everyone plays the same way, then you can score 300 but also be all out for 30 as well. A key aspect of a good team is that you have different kinds of players and more importantly, your team can win. If you’re playing with a 100-strike rate, then maybe that is good enough. If you’re hitting at 180 strike rate and your team loses, then no one talks about it, that’s the reality”.
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The former India opener reckons that strike rate does have an important role but also emphasises the need to take into account other factors like the conditions, match situation and others.
“That’s why I say, strike-rate is important. It has a direct relationship with the conditions, venue, oppositions, par-score, and match situation as well. If your team is 50/2 you don’t expect the batter to come in and play at 170 strike rate, on the other hand, if you are 80/0 then you will have to increase your strike rate,” added the former KKR player.
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At the end of the day, the T20 and ODI World Cup winner suggested that the results are what matters and if the team is winning then there would not be as much chatter regarding his strike rate.
“People try to dissect things all the time that they forget to take into account the conditions, oppositions and the result as well. If your team is winning, then I don’t think a lot of people will talk about it,” Gambhir concluded.
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