Former India opener and ex-chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth feels that it is important for the players to stick to what is their natural style of play. Srikkanth said that he would want Virat Kohli to bat in his own style, rather than looking to be aggressive from the word go. India is looking at a more aggressive template in terms of batting in the lead-up to the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 which is scheduled in June 2024.
Virat Kohli returned to T20I cricket after a 14-month-long hiatus in the recently concluded T20I series against Afghanistan. Both the experienced marvels Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were out of the shortest format after the loss against England in the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. Questions were asked about the returns of Kohli and Rohit Sharma and if they can be considered for selection in the T20 World Cup.
However, both Kohli and Rohit proved naysayers wrong with match-winning contributions as India completed a 3-0 sweep of the series. Rohit Sharma went out for a duck in each of the first two matches, but he made up for it with a sensational 121 off just 69 balls, a record-setting fifth T20I century, in the third T20I at the M Chinnaswamy in Bengaluru. The match was decided after two super overs and Rohit scored 13 and 11 in the respective Super Overs.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli, who opted out of the series opener due to personal reasons, hit a quick-fire 29 off 16 balls in the second T20I at Indore. He showcased an uncharacteristic intent from the word go in Indore during the second T20I. Virat Kohli slog-swept spinners and was not afraid to play cross-batted shots early on as he and Yashasvi Jaiswal smoked the Afghan bowlers in Indore.
However, Virat Kohli fell for a first-ball duck in the third T20I as he was trying to be aggressive from the very first ball. He tried to smack the very first ball he faced which stood up and Mohammad Nabi took an easy catch in the deep to dismiss Virat Kohli for a duck.
Virat Kohli Should Take His Time To Build His Innings, Says Kris Srikkanth.
“Each player has his own game. Everybody should first follow their game. If you tell Yashasvi Jaiswal to take his time and play, it’s not right. Players like him and ‘Cheeka’, you can’t tell them to take their time,” Srikkanth said in his YouTube show.
“Rohit Sharma is capable of doing it. Virat Kohli should play his natural game. He likes taking his time. He is not worried about hitting sixes. He is capable of accelerating in the end, hitting sixes in the end. We saw the Pakistan game in Melbourne and the way he built it up and won it for us.”
“So, like you said, the strike rate and all that should be on the back of the mind. If you run after it desperately, it won’t work. If you started swinging from the word go… this is international cricket, you will be lucky to connect once or twice, not always. Virat Kohli should follow his principles of the game. How has he succeeded in international cricket? He has followed his style and done it. I think everybody should stick to their strengths,” he added.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are currently the top two leading run-getters in T20I cricket. Virat has amassed 4037 runs from 117 matches at an average of 51.75 whereas The captain has scored 3974 runs in 151 matches at an average of 31.29. Virat boasts a strike rate of 138.15 in T20Is and Rohit is touching 140 in the shortest format. Batting aggressively was a conscious decision made by Virat Kohli.
