After Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) stalwart Virat Kohli went after ‘pundits’ over criticsim of his strike-rate and struggles against spin, India legend Sunil Gavaskar wasn’t willing to keep mum. The iconic batter, on live TV, went on an angry rant ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match between RCB and Gujarat Titans on Saturday. Gavaskar, launching a scathing attack at Kohli, asked why those who continue to stay away from what’s said and written on social media are reacting to ‘outside noise’.

Kohli didn’t mince his words as he questioned those ‘sitting inside the box’ about how many games they’ve won for their country. But, Gavaskar wasn’t happy seeing the RCB star turning the tables and putting the commentators in the line of fire. Gavaskar, however, didn’t just criticise Virat but also took a swipe at the broadcaster Star Sports for playing that rant from the opening batter ‘a dozen times’ on television.

“That particular post-game interview has been shown on this channel earlier as well, right now, on this particular program it has probably been shown half a dozen times,” he said. “I hope that Star Sports recognises that when that is being shown, asking where are the critics, the critics are the commentators. Your Star Sports commentators are the ones from whom the questions are being asked.”

“If you have a strike rate of 118, you come and face the first ball, and then you get out in the 14th or 15th over and your strike rate is 118 – if you want applause for that, then that’s a little bit different,” he said. “But for Star Sports to show the person belittling their own commentators, I’m not sure that’s a great thing. So I think Star Sports needs to understand that they have shown it enough times, everyone’s got the message.

So according to Gavaskar saab, no matter how much people cry on kohli everyday Kohli shouldn’t reply his critics pic.twitter.com/9yiAYtXrg8

— POTT (@KlolZone) May 4, 2024

“We’ve all played a bit of cricket, not a lot of cricket, but we speak about what we see. We don’t necessarily have any likes and dislikes. Even if we have likes or dislikes, we actually speak on what’s happening. So, I would be very disappointed if Star Sports show this once more because that will be questioning all us commentators.”

What Sunil Gavaskar Said On Virat Kohli’s Rant:

Gavaskar was one of those pundits who had questioned Virat Kohli’s intent, going about a strike-rate of around 120 as his team suffered consecutive defeats. The legendary cricketer doubled down on the RCB star, asking if he needed appreciation for a strike-rate of 118.

“Commentators questioned only when his strike-rate was 118,” Gavaskar said, responding to Kohli’s rant. “I’m not too sure. I don’t watch too many matches, so I don’t know what the other commentators have said otherwise. But if you come and open and then have a strike of 118 when you get out in the 14th or the 15th over, I mean, if you want applause for that, that’s a little bit different. That’s different.”

“All these guys talk about, ‘oh we don’t care about outside noise’. Accha? Then why are you replying to any outside noise or whatever it is. We all played a bit of cricket, not a lot of cricket. We don’t have agendas. We speak about what we see. We don’t necessarily have any likes and dislikes. Even if we have likes and dislikes, we actually speak on what is happening,” he added.

What Had Virat Kohli Said?

Virat Kohli didn’t mince his words as he slammed those criticising his strike-rate after scoring 44-ball 70 in the match against the Gujarat Titans for the first time this season.

“Not really, I think all the people who talk about strike rates and me not playing spin well are the ones who love talking about this stuff. But, for me, it’s about winning the game for the team. And there is a reason you have done this for 15 years,” Kohli said after his match-winning knock against Gujarat in the presentation ceremony.

“You have done this, day in and day out. You have won games for your team. And I am not quite sure if you have not been in that situation yourself, to sit and speak about the game from a box.

“I don’t think it’s the same thing. For me, it’s about doing the job for the team. People can sit and talk about their own ideas and assumptions of the game. But those who have done it, day in and day out, they know what they are doing. It’s kind of muscle memory for me,” he added.