IPL 2023: 'Don't change your tempo', Ravi Shastri on Virat Kohli's strike-rate concerns

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has advised Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) Virat Kohli to maintain his tempo while batting, amid concerns over the latter’s strike-rate in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this season. Kohli has so far scored 419 runs from 10 matches at a strike-rate of 135.16.

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While the Delhi-born cricketer has notched up six fifties in the IPL this season, it’s his strike-rate that has been a talking point among the experts and fans alike.

Shastri said that once Kohli gets into the groove, there is no slowing down.

“Once you get in the tempo, don’t worry about the others. That will be my message to Virat. In a T20 game, you don’t need that many batsmen. If you are hot keep that going,” Shastri said on ESPNCricinfo.

“If you get going, don’t change your tempo; try and up the ante,” added Shastri.

The 60-year-old used Phil Salt’s knock of 87 from 45 balls against RCB as an example. Salt had reached his half-century off just 28 deliveries in that match.

“Prime example was Phil Salt. Once he got into the groove, he didn’t let go. That is something that could be looked at from Virat’s point of view,” the former Mumbai cricketer opined.

Shastri felt that RCB were 20 runs short against RCB.

“Delhi’s combination was good. I guess the extra batter (Rilee Roussow ) coming in made a big difference. It allowed the batsman to go hammer and tong; they lost an early wicket. They also bowled well on that surface to restrict RCB. I think they were 20 short,” continued Shastri.

A photo of Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly shaking hands after the match had gone viral on social media. To put some context, the two had avoided shaking hands with each other during the earlier contest in Bengaluru, amid the captaincy saga in October 2021, when Ganguly was BCCI president.

Shastri said how the likes of Kohli and MS Dhoni are smart enough to avoid being captured them displaying their aggression.

“Players like Dhoni, Kohli, they know that there’s a camera on them all the time. And you deserve it for what you have done and achieved in the game. So you can get a lot of brownie points by just being smart on camera,” said the cricketer-turned-commentator.

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