Virat Kohli has the skill to score runs at a much better strike-rate like any young T20 star but RCB’s team composition is such that he needs to adopt a risk-free approach and aim for a high scoring season, says former Australia skipper Aaron Finch. Finch, who led Australia to T20 World Cup victory in UAE back in 2021, feels that high-risk cricket, which someone like Rohit Sharma is playing consistently, has its own pitfalls with regards to consistency. After some underwhelming seasons, Kohli managed a strike-rate of near 140 in 2023 and his best in all IPL seasons came in 2024 where he scored 741 runs at 154.70.
So does Virat Kohli need to change his game for RCB to take full advantage, considering that their bowling lineup might not be as good as others? “Well, the question you have to ask yourself is, do you want 700 or 800 runs or are you happy with 400? Because if you want Virat to strike higher, he can absolutely do that. But with that comes a higher risk and the consistency will go down,” Finch, a JioStar expert, told PTI in an exclusive interaction ahead of the start of 18th edition of the league.
“So I don’t think that there’s a huge need to change. Maybe it’s changing the tempo up slightly. But overall, I would bank on his runs every single day of the week.
And then you start to build your team around somebody like that.” Finch admitted game has changed upside down in terms of how teams are approaching Powerplay overs but each batter’s strength is different.
“It’s not just about people who walk out of the change rooms and strike at 200 from ball one. I think that that’s unrealistic to ask seven batters to do that all in the one team. Because when it doesn’t go well, you lose the game.
“I know that the game has gone to a new level in the last two seasons. But you still need to have the foundations and you still need to have that person there that’s able to strike and bat deep into the innings.” While Rohit’s IPL strike-rate is quite similar to Kohli, in the last phase of his T20I career, he took more risks than ever and also made significant gains at the top of the order.
But Finch, an accomplished opener back in the day, put things in perspective about quality of players in that Mumbai Indians line-up, who can pick up pieces and play with same momentum if things go adrift.
“… when you look at the way that Rohit’s done it, have a look at the players that he’s had around him. He’s still had the foundations of a player that the team can bat around him. So it’s okay to walk out and swing from the hip and look to try and dominate and hit a lot of sixes from early in your innings. But you have to understand the dynamics of the team around that.” The Mumbai Indians line-up featured Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma in the top and middle order.
Rohit could afford that risk for India because he had Kohli around him, said Finch.
“When you look, when Rohit’s made that conscious decision, he’s had Virat coming in behind him at number three. So there’s an ability for him to say, you know what, I’ve got the guy behind that will fix any mistakes that I make.
“But you can’t have everybody in the team just looking to swing for the fences from ball one. So that’s a really, that’s a good question. And I understand that Rohit’s done that and he’s been very successful doing it.” Finch believes if Kohli bats at a strike-rate of 150, that is job done.
“Maybe if his strike rate goes from 140 to 150, he can absolutely do that. No issues whatsoever. But how many times has he been in a situation where he’s had to almost dig RCB out of the hole because everybody else has fallen around him? “So like I said before, I would bank the runs every day of the week from a top three player. Because that gives the rest of the order so much freedom. That gives you the option to be more aggressive from the other batters,” he explained.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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