RCB vs DC: Virat Kohli's chidhood coach attacks Sunil Gavaskar and Harsha Bhogle

Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma lashed out at those who criticize Kohli for his strike rate after the RCB opener played a match-winning knock last night. 

Virat Kohli was breathing fire throughout his innings against the Punjab Kings at the scenic HPCA stadium in Dharamshala. The former RCB captain was also adjudged as man of the match for his knock which helped Bengaluru claim their 4th victory in a row. 

What did Rajkumar Sharma say to Virat Kohli's critics?

The topic of Virat Kohli's strike rate in IPL 2024 is among the most talked about aspects of the batter's game. Despite being Bengaluru's highest-scorer this season, expert pundits on commentary boxes and fans on social media have voiced their opinions against his striking rate. 

All of this ignited after Virat Kohli scored the joint-slowest century in Indian Premier League history against the Rajasthan Royals as he took 67 balls to reach triple figures. Then began the chain reaction. Every other pundit started talking about Kohli's strike rate being so low with a few pundits also leaving him out of their probable Indian squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. 

But since the match against Gujarat Titans on 28th April, Virat Kohli started responding to the critics first with his bat and then with his mouth. While chasing a target of 201, Kohli smacked 70 off 44 balls at a 150+ strike rate before scoring 42 off 27 in the reverse fixture.

And last night if there was any shadow of doubt regarding his inability to boost his strike rate, Virat Kohli shrugged it all off. He thrashed the Punjab Kings bowler all over the park after being dropped at 0 and 10 earlier on in the innings. 

The 36-year-old smashed 92 off just 47 at a daunting 195.74 strike rate and helped RCB post 241 runs on the board. 

In that context, Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma took to his Instagram handle and said a few words against the former's critics. Rajkumar wrote that people question the player, who has won the most number of games for his country, about his strike rate.  

"Here is another one from the guy who has won the maximum number of matches for the country. Still people question about his strike rate. Brilliant performance with the bat as well as in the field. Well done champ god bless you." - Rajkumar Sharma wrote on his latest Instagram post. 

Virat Kohli's IPL 2024 season so far

Regardless of how much criticism he faces on the subject of his strike rate, Virat Kohli is having yet another successful season with the bat. Kohli is just now 5 runs off from matching his run-scoring tally in the 2023 season wherein he had amassed 639 runs at an average of 53.25 which also included 6 half-centuries and 2 full-centuries. 

This season, Kohli is averaging 70.44 after 12 matches and has scored 634 runs with a 153.51 strike rate. He also scored 5 half-centuries and a full-century on the way.