The childhood coach of Indian cricketing great Virat Kohli has slammed experts for criticising the former Indian captain for his low strike rate in the IPL. Several former players and fans have called out Kohli for batting at a slower strike rate which has held his team, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
The scrutiny towards Kohli was high after his 113-run knock against the Rajasthan Royals, where the former RCB captain took 67 balls to complete his ton. This was tied for the slowest ton in IPL history and hence many argued that Kohli's knock held the Royal Challengers from posting a massive total.
Kohli ke baare mein kuch bol dega toh news banegi: Rajkumar Sharma
Calling out these critics, Kohli's childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma opined that these comments were made to generate some news and that the 34-year-old played according to the situation. Sharma, as quoted by TOI, said, "Jo log yeh kahe rehe hai ki ye slow century hai, unhe realise karna chaiye ki match ki situation thi. Sirf news banane ke liye, kyuki aur kisi ke naam se news nahi banti toh Virat Kohli ke baare mein kuch bol dega toh news banegi."
"Iss tarah ki jo baate karte hai, mujhe doubt hai unki cricket knowledge ki. Doosri side se wicket gir rahe hai still vo maintain kar rahe hai 130-135 ki strike-rate. Jinko Cricket ka pata hoga vo iss tarah ki baate nahi karega. Ye log vohi log hai jinhe charcha mein rehna hai. Jab tak vo bolege nahi aur bolege kis ke liye. Jab Tak Virat Kohli ke liye bolege. Aur kisi ke liye bolege toh news nhi banegi."
(Translation: Those people who are saying this is a slow century should realise what the situation was. Just to make news as no one else makes news, they say something about Virat Kohli's strike-rate. Look at his strike-rate in the T20 World Cup, how many percent of runs he has. People who say things like this, I doubt their cricket knowledge. Wickets are falling from the other end and he is still batting at 130-135. Anyone who knows the 'C' of cricket will not talk like this. These people just want to remain in limelight and until they talk about Virat Kohli, Bea that will not happen,)"