T20 World Cup 2024: "Virat Kohli is reading social media, why is he bothering?" Simon Doull's belt treatment

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) star batter Virat Kohli recently responded strongly to critics slamming him for his strike rate in T20 cricket. The former Indian skipper stressed that his focus remains on winning matches for his team rather than individual statistics.

The dashing right-hander also recalled his track record of consistent performance over 15 years and highlighted his contribution to the team’s win. Kohli is currently the leading run scorer in the ongoing IPL 2024, with 500 runs in 10 innings for RCB at a strike rate of 147.

However, former New Zealand cricketer-turned-commentator Simon Doull believes that Kohli should avoid engaging with social media commentary. The former Kiwi pacer further said that Kohli's remarks show that he may be influenced by what he reads online about his strike rate, questioning why he would bother with such negativity given his stellar cricketing career.

Why is Virat Kohli bothering about social media criticism?: Simon Doull

Doull wondered how someone of Kohli's caliber would pay attention to social media criticism, urging the RCB star to focus on his game rather than external noise. He also feels Kohli's tendency to address such criticism in post-match interviews indicates that he or someone close to him is actively monitoring social media feedback, which is completely unnecessary.

Simon Doull told Cricbuzz: “Interesting that he goes back to these things because they won’t be asking him. Are you looking up your strike rate? Those won’t be the questions. Clearly, he’s reading social media or someone is reading all the social media about him. And he does this quite often in post-match presentations, where he has a point to make.”

Doull added, “About stuff that is written about him. Why is he bothering? I mean, seriously, the bloke is such a good player. Why is he bothering reading the rubbish that some people write or why are people reading it and telling him? I don’t understand that? I just look at what he’s done and why would you bother reading social media and try to make a point about it in interviews? If he’s reading social media, he should have better things to do.”

Virat Kohli and RCB have a different story in IPL 2024

Notably, Virat Kohli was recently named in India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024, which is set to be played in the USA and West Indies next month. He is the all-time top scorer in the men's T20 World Cup, with 1141 runs to his name from 27 matches he has so far played for Team India.

The dashing right-hander is currently in great form with the bat in the ongoing IPL 2024. He already amassed 500 runs for the RCB this season, and it was the 7th time he made 500 runs in the tournament, in the process, he became the only second player to achieve the feat.

However, RCB is badly struggling to win matches in the ongoing IPL 2024, where they won only 3 of their 10 games in the tournament. RCB is currently ranked 10th in the standings and will face the Gujarat Titans (GT) in their next IPL 2024 match on May 4 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.