“They just really spurred him on” – Dinesh Karthik opens up on Virat Kohli’s strike rate chatter in IPL 2024

India’s veteran wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik reckons Virat Kohli’s strike rate chatter in IPL 2024 spurred the former RCB captain. Kohli could manage only 51 runs off 43 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the league stage and thus he was criticised by a lot of cricket boffins.

Kohli had also hit back at his critics, saying he has winning matches for his team in the last 15 years and it is easy for experts to comment from the box. 

However, after Kohli’s sedate knock against SRH, he lifted his game against the spinners in the middle overs. The talisman also brought the slogsweep and improved his strike rate drastically. 

Kohli amassed 741 runs in 15 matches of IPL 2024 at an average of 61.75 and a strike rate of 154.69 and played an instrumental role in taking RCB to the playoffs.

Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz, “I can write a book on how he was this year. He started okay but thanks to people like Simon (Doull) and a few others, they just really spurred him on. And you don’t want to see that side of Virat Kohli. I think he thrives on that. He is someone who inadvertently wants to hold on to certain things to do well.”

“He loves proving people wrong, and even though he might not come out and say it, it really fuels his passion and he’s like a molten lava coming out. He’s fiery and you don’t want to be anywhere close to it because you’re going to get burnt for sure because he’s done this time and time again.”

Karthik lauded Kohli for motivating the players in the field and getting the best out of them. 

“You can speak about RCB, the success, and all of that; it is not happening without that man. I’m not saying this with his batting. It’s the intimidating feeling that he gives when he’s on the field, the way he pushes fielders, if you ever had a mic in one of those timeouts, my god!

“There will be a lot of bleeps for a start and Ben Stokes will be mentioned a bit, but if you look past all that, the intensity that he carries and he expects each player to do well. I doff my hat to him. To be doing that in the 17th year of IPL, stand up and applaud the man. RCB and its fans should be grateful to have a guy like that.”

Kohli will look to continue his good form in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024.