T20 World Cup 2024: AB de Villiers takes down Virat Kohli's critics after India call up for the KING

Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has taken a stand for his former RCB teammate Virat Kohli on the subject of the latter's strike rate in IPL 2024. 

Virat Kohli, who opens for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru with skipper Faf du Plessis, is being targetted for his slow innings pace as well as strike rate. Expert pundits like Sanjay Manjrekar and Harsha Bhogle among others have all taken digs at Kohli for not being able to accelerate his innings and for not playing spin that well. 

AB de Villiers asks expert pundits to see how many centuries Virat Kohli has scored 

While speaking in his latest YouTube video, AB de Villiers had a direct question for Virat Kohli's critics. The former RCB explosive batter asked those expert pundits as to how many centuries or how many cricket matches they have played in their lives. de Villiers expressed his frustration with Kohli's criticism and asked people to put some respect on his name. 

For what he has done throughout the years and for being one of the greatest cricketers ever, AB de Villiers wants Virat Kohli's critics to take a step back. The 40-year-old further stated that Kohli is one of the best to play in the Indian Premier League.

He then asked the "data-driven" experts to tell him how many centuries they have scored in their lives. de Villiers further bashed Kohli's critics as people who do not know about cricket whatsoever. 

"Virat Kohli catching criticism about his strike rate. It's been going on for way too long, and I am fed up with that now. I am frustrated, to say the least. This guy is one of the best to ever play the game of cricket."

"He's incredible in the IPL; he plays a certain role for RCB and I've had pretty much of these data-driven pundits who keep criticizing this man when you don't really have knowledge of the game. How many games of cricket have you played? How many IPL hundreds have you scored?" - de Villiers said via his latest YT video. 

How has IPL 2024 gone for Virat Kohli?

Despite strong criticisms of his strike rate, Virat Kohli has completed 500 runs in the Indian Premier League 2024 season. Those 500 runs have come from 10 matches at a strike rate of 147.49 with an average of 71.43. His best score has been of 113* which came against the Rajasthan Royals earlier this season. 

What has Kohli said about his strike rate criticism? 

After scoring 70 off 44 at a strike rate of nearly 160 against the Gujarat Titans, Virat Kohli had lashed out on his critics. While speaking to the commentators, Kohli asked the people in the commentary box how many times they had won games for their teams. 

Kohli admitted that he doesn't really think about his strike rate and it's the people in the comm box who often criticize him for that. "You have done this, day in and day out. You have won games for your team. And I am not quite sure if you have not been in that situation yourself, to sit and speak about the game from a box." - Kohli said in Ahmedabad after RCB beat GT.  

Read More: 

• IPL 2024 Points Table