Virat Kohli holds the orange cap in IPL 2024. He’s scored 430 runs at 61.42 and has four scores of over 50. His overall strike rate this season is 145.76. All this looks promising. But is it? When we look deeper, a concerning pattern seems to be emerging. A two-time T20 World Cup ‘Player of the Tournament’ winner seems to have fallen behind the curve when it comes to the requirements of the quickly evolving format.
The former Indian skipper is expected to be one of the first names on the flight to the USA and Caribbean. But his inability to get going post-powerplay is concerning. Despite questions over his style of play, people are adamant that he’s a must for the Indian cricket team.
Virat Kohli’s strike rate conundrum
As a top-order batter, Virat Kohli is expected to either open the inning or bat at his favorite spot, number 3 for India in the T20 World Cup 2024. What makes his case even worse is the incredible competition he has at the spot.
Rohit Sharma (175.45), Shubman Gill (133.03), Ishan Kishan (169.23), and Yashasvi Jaiswal (152.80) all have a claim on the opener spot, and barring Gill, all are either equal to or superior to Kohli (155.39) when it comes to strike rate in the powerplay. A left-field pick, Abhishek Sharma, could also work. The southpaw is striking at 233.72 in the 1-6 overs at the moment in IPL 2024.
At No. 3, he’ll have to go against Suryakumar Yadav or Sanju Samson, both of whom are striking faster than him overall as well. He averages more than every player mentioned above, but the format no longer wants him to average 50. It needs quick strikers to take the game forward.
IPL 2024
Middle-over slowdown
The biggest concern is regarding Virat Kohli’s record in the middle overs. We all saw him slow down immensely against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He scored 32 runs at a strike rate of 145.45 in the powerplay and 19 runs at 76 in the middle overs. His death-over hitting is great, but if he slows down in the middle for 8-9 overs, how is the team or is he supposed to recover from that deficit?
Spinners usually dominate the middle overs, and it’s evident that Kohli gets stuck against them. He’s averaging 76 against turners, but his strike is just 123.57 in IPL 2024. He’s faced 76 balls of spin and hit just 13 boundaries (66 runs) against them.
His inability to strike faster against the spinner is a huge concern. The West Indies are known for their slow wickets, and Kohli will be stuck against the spinner in the middle over and even powerplay.
IPL 2024: Strike rate by phase
| Overall | Powerplay (1-6) | Middle (7-15) | Death (16-20) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 145.76 | 155.39 | 131.29 | 177.5 |
