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Strike-rate is the strength of T20 cricket. But someone like Virat Kohli most certainly doesn’t like the ‘Mr Strength’ of T20 because it reminds him of his weakness. At least, that is the perception created around Kohli whenever his strike rate is spoken about. He gets angry. That is when the truth of Kohli’s T20 existence comes out. Doesn’t it?
Between the 2012 and 2022 T20 World Cup, Kohli had an average of 81.5 from 27 matches, scoring 1141 runs with 14 fifties with a strike rate of 131.30. Under Dhoni’s captaincy, Kohli’s T20 average was even better. It was 86.33 in the T20 World Cup, but the strike rate was only 133.04. Under Rohit’s captaincy, the strike rate was marginally better at 136.40. But when Virat was the captain, his strike rate was 100 in five matches.
Of course, Kohli calls himself a match-winner, which he is, his numbers are very impressive. With 19 wins from 27 T20 World Cup matches, Kohli is again averaging 115.57 from 17 innings. But his strike rate isn’t high enough. It is again hovering around 133.22. Out of those 19 T20 World Cup match wins, chase-master Kohli has 9 successful innings, averaging 518 with seven fifties. Even then, his strike rate isn’t over 140. It is 139.62.
Not that Kohli isn’t trying to work on it. His bat swing has improved, he can negotiate the gaps between the fielders to perfection, and has all the qualities to open the innings with his captain Rohit Sharma, who is the most inconsistent batter in T20 in recent times.
Fortunately, Kohli’s IPL strike rate in the last five years of international years has been quite decent. In 2019, his strike rate in T20 was 147.93. It dipped in 2020 to 141.82 and his loss of form in the following year took it to 132.88. It improved again in 2022 as he was getting ready for the T20 World Cup in Australia to 138.23. For the whole of 2023, Kohli was without a single T20 match because he was kept fresh for the 50-over World Cup at home along with Rohit.
The 2024 T20 international season began with a two-match series against Afghanistan, wherein Kohli’s strike rate was 170.58, and he scored 29 runs from two matches with a mediocre average of 14.50. Between 2019 and 2024, Kohli is averaging 55 with a strike-rate of 140.60 from 49 international T20 games, scoring 1870 runs.
In the last five years of IPL, Kohli again has a strike rate of 132.21 from 73 matches, averaging 40.51 with three centuries and 19 fifties (2512 runs). In the 2020 IPL, his strike rate of 121.35, went down to 119.46 and dipped further to 115.98. The 2023 season was a facing saving season because the strike rate improved to 139.82. And this year, it is over 155.
As Kohli gets ready for the T20 World Cup next month, this year’s IPL form is a refreshing change for all those Kohli fans out there, including former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar. Looking at the numbers, there is a point that comes out quite clearly that Kohli isn’t a bigger hitter of the cricket ball.
But who would forget that marvellous unbeaten 82 against Pakistan at the 2022 T20 World Cup league match in Melbourne? Kohli’s strike rate was 154.71. So, when the critics question his strike rate, which they have all the right to do, Kohli shouldn’t let the hate slow him down!
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