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Watch: Virat Kohli hurls a mouthful in aggressive celebration after answering strike rate debate with record fifty vs DC
On Saturday, it was yet another occasion for Kohli as he broke into an aggressive celebration after answering strike rate debate with his record fifty vs DC.
No one knows how to answer back critics in style better than Virat Kohli. The former India captain, through his illustrious career, has mastered the art. He did after his 2014 blip and then last year after he his thundering return in Asia Cup with his maiden ton in T20Is before emerging as the highest run-getter in T20 World Cup. On Saturday, it was yet another occasion for Kohli as he broke into an aggressive celebration after answering strike rate debate with his record fifty in the IPL 2023 match against Delhi Capitals at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. (RCB vs DC Live Score, IPL 2023)
In the last IPL 2023 match for RCB at home, Kohli had raced to 42 runs in the powerplay before crawling to his half-century mark. Former New Zealand bowler Simon Doull had launched a brutal attack on-air, slamming Kohli for prioritising “personal milestones” after his strike rate had taken a nose dive after the fielding restrictions were removed.
"Kohli started off like a train. He was going hammer and tongs as he was playing a lot of shots. From 42 to 50, he took 10 balls. Concerned about a milestone. I don't think there's room for that in this game anymore. Just got to keep going, especially with wickets in hand at that stage. You got to keep going," Doull had said.
On Saturday, Kohli completed his fifty in just 33 balls, lacing six boundaries and a solitary six in his knock of a strike rate around 150. On completing the feat, his 47th fifty in IPL, Kohli broke into an aggressive celebration where he was seen hurling a mouthful after beating his chest.
In an apt reply to criticism over strike rate, Kohli told Jio Cinema in an interview: "Yeah for sure (important anchor role). I completely agree with that, There are many people who because they have not been in that situation themselves, they look at the game differently. Suddenly when the powerplay is done, they will be like 'oh, they have started rotating the strike'. When you haven't lost a wicket in the powerplay, usually the best player comes on to bowl, you are trying to figure out what to do against him in the first two overs, so that you can get big ones in the last two overs of that guy and then rest of the innings becomes much easier."
With the fifty, Kohli completed a plethora of records. En route, he reached the milestone of 2500 runs at Chinnaswamy, the most runs by a batter at a single venue in IPL. He now also has the most runs against Delhi in the tournament history and has most fifty-plus scores as an Indian in IPL.
