MUMBY ,April,12 (Online) Former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull, who is on commentary duty for IPL 2023, felt that Virat Kohli was “concerned about a milestone”.Virat Kohli slammed his 46th half-century in the Indian Premier League on Monday.© AFP
Virat Kohli slammed his 46th half-century in the Indian Premier League on Monday against the Lucknow Super Giants. The former RCB captain reached the 50-run mark in 35 balls, registering his second fifty of the season.
However, it took Kohli 10 balls to move from 42 to 50 and his batting approach did not go down well with former New Zealand player Simon Doull, who was commentating the match. Doull felt that Kohli was “concerned about the milestone”.
“Kohli started off like a train. He was going hammer and tongs as he was playing a lot of shots. From 42 to 50, he took 10 balls. Concerned about milestone. I don’t think there’s room for that in this game anymore. Just gotta keep going, especially with wickets in hand at that stage. You got to keep going,” Doull had said on-air.
Reacting to Doull’s comment, ex-Pakistan captain Salman Butt fumed at the former New Zealand pacer, and deemed his statement as “utter rubbish”.
“When he was in Pakistan, he used similar words for Babar Azam. If he had watched the game conciously, he would’ve noticed that Kohli tried to hit Bishnoi three four times but he missed. That is part of the game. He has 75 centuries in international cricket. He doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone. It’s utter rubbish. He (Doull) has played cricket, but he was a bowler,” Butt said on his YouTube channel.
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Butt suggested Doull to “get a life” as a player like Kohli, who has scored 75 international centuries, doesn’t need to worry about milestones.
“Young players often play like this as getting to milestone might secure their place in the team. Why would Kohli do that? This is RCB we are talking about. He is not fighting for his place in the Indian team. He is a world class player. Get a life. Get out of this narrow-minded thinking.
All the big players like Babar, Virat and Williamson are not power-hitters. They put value on their wicket. Maybe he’s trying to get attention,” he added.
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