'I am sort of fed up with that now' - AB de Villiers stands up for Virat Kohli amidst criticism over strike rate

AB de Villiers has opened up about the criticism of Virat Kohli's strike rate in the IPL 2024. Many experts believe that the star batter has not been as aggressive as he should be.

However, the former South African cricketer claimed that the criticism of Kohli's SR is baseless and expressed his frustration on the same. In the process, De Villiers backed his friend. 

“Virat Kohli, catching criticism about his strike rate. It's been going on for way too long and I am sort of fed up with that now. I'm frustrated, to say the least," said the RCB Hall of Famer on his YouTube channel. Mr.360 claimed Virat to be one of the greatest players of all time. De Villiers felt him to be incredible in the IPL and addressed the role of the star batter in RCB. He claimed to have had enough of the data-driven approach from the experts. 

"This guy is one of the best players to ever play the game of cricket. He's incredible in the IPL, he plays a certain role for RCB, and I've pretty much had enough of data-driven pundits who keep criticizing this man," added De Villiers in his statement. He further felt that the experts who criticize Kohli do not have knowledge of the game. The former RCB teammate of Kohli questioned the playing experience of the experts in the sport.

"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?" questioned the former SA captain. He then gave a suggestion for the RCB management saying that Virat is the best number three and deserves to play at the position. The former batter said that if he had the right to play Kohli at a certain position, it would be number three. “As always, I thought that Virat is best at number three. I would still bat him there," added De Villiers.

Kohli is batting like a dream at the moment: AB de Villiers

The legendary cricketer felt that Kohli loves to open the batting and is good at it. While he felt it to be incredible, De Villiers added that given the team combination with Faf Du Plessis and Will Jacks who can go bonkers at the top, Virat could play the role of anchor lower down the order. In the last match against GT, RCB chased down their first 200+ target in 14 years. Will Jacks scored a hundred in just 41 balls. 

"He loves opening the batting, and his record speaks for itself. It's incredible, but I do feel with the makeup of this team, with Will Jacks opening with Faf, it will give them the best opportunity to get a flying start,” De Villiers said. Having scored 500 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 147.49 so far, the former RCB captain is the second-highest run-scorer in the ongoing season behind CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad. 

The former RCB finisher felt that Virat's batting at number three would allow him to cement the role that was his for many years. De Villiers got it wrong when he said that Virat's SR in 2024 was more than his SR in 2016. “Virat, he's got the perfect opportunity to play that cement role that he has for so many years. And his strike rate, by the way, this season, is even better than that record-breaking season he had (2016) not so long ago," added the South African.

In 2016, Virat's SR was 152.03, while in 2024, it is 147.49 as of now. De Villiers felt that there was no need for criticism as he observed the 35-year-old to be batting like a dream. The former RCB batter concluded saying that the Indian batter has allowed the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Will Jacks, and others to express themselves in the middle.

"So I don't know where the criticism is coming from, he is batting like a dream at the moment, he's keeping the team together. He's allowing guys like World Jacks, like DK to actually go out and express themselves,” De Villiers concluded.