Don't question strike rate, Virat Kohli is a big-match player: Irfan Pathan

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan called for an end to the chatter about Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Virat Kohli's strike rate in IPL 2024, calling him a "big match player" and a match-winner.

Despite batting at a career-best strike rate this season, Kohli's knocks have courted criticism because of his apparent inability to maintain the pace after the powerplay, especially against spinners.

However, he seemed to have corrected that against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Sunday when he scored 70 (44), with eight of his nine boundaries coming against spinners. With Will Jacks roaring to a century on the other end, RCB chased down 201 in just 16 overs to register a nine-wicket win.

"And I don't understand where all the talks of strike rate comes in. It actually disappoints me," Pathan said on Star Sports after the match. "I've been actually talking about it from day one. Don't question that because he's a big-match player. He always wins you games. And today look what he did. Look, it was a slow start. He played down the ground really well. He played the slog sweep really well as well. And this shot sweep shot. He doesn't play that much, but he played all around today, and that is why he's able to get that success," he added.

Kohli himself seemed affected by the chatter. After the match, he spoke about how he has played the game for 15 years and knows better than those commentating from outside. The remarks have brought some more criticism with them too.

Virat Kohli's improvement is great news for Team India: Irfan Pathan

Pathan, though, felt that Kohli's value should be judged by considering his average and strike rate together. He added that his form and improvement are "great news" for the national team ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup in June.

"You know this innings actually showed the world again that, it doesn't matter what strike rate he plays. He wants his team to win, and that's why sometimes he's going to play slow, but he always wants to play according to the situation," Pathan said.

"It's good news for Virat Kohli, good news for RCB, but in long term, great news for Team India because you know a lot of chatter has been there around for Virat Kohli's strike rate and his form. You have to just make it strike-rate plus average. He's got an orange cap on his hand, 500 runs, outstanding," he added.

If Kohli can maintain his spin game, it'd come quite handy on the probable turning tracks in the West Indies and the USA for the T20 World Cup.