Written by Vaibhav Tripathi
Virat Kohli’s approach to batting in the Indian Premier League (IPL), especially after the advent of the Impact Player, may be in danger of becoming obsolete. That’s the view of Tom Moody, the former head coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad. On Saturday evening, Royal Challengers Bangalore suffered a heavy defeat to Delhi Capitals, with Kohli contributing a 46-ball 55 to Bangalore’s total of 181.
Delhi breezed past the target with 20 balls remaining, as Phil Salt smashed 87 from 45 balls on a pitch loaded in favour of the batters. “Will always have this debate because it is the Virat Kohli template,” said Moody, speaking to ESPNCricinfo. “It’s the way he bats. His career strike-rate is around 130. His ability to continue to churn out runs is quite extraordinary.
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Each of the four Delhi batters that got starts scored at a strike-rate in excess of 150. For Bangalore, only Mahipal Lomror managed to do so. “Maybe he [Kohli] also felt that whilst the other end was flying along, his role was to feed that other end,” said Moody. “But in my view, particularly with the impact player, the game has really moved on from that style of cricket. That’s why we are seeing so many totals go to 200-plus. There is no such role. We all need to be going here at 150-plus [strike-rate] without a doubt, because we have the comfort of depth.”
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