Virat Kohli
's 8th IPL century, which came in
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
's (RCB) match against Rajasthan Royals in the T20 league's ongoing season, has been hailed for the batting icon's consistency and also criticised in terms of his strike-rate. But Pakistan captain
Babar Azam
feels strike-rate and winning a match are two different stories.
Against the Royals, Kohli scored a record-extending eighth IPL century, but his knock proved futile as RCB lost the match by six wickets.
Consequently, Kohli's 72-ball 113 not out was criticized for being slow.
His century, which came in 67 balls, is the joint slowest in IPL history. However, Kohli received little support from other batsmen, who together contributed just 59 runs in RCB's total of 183 for 3, which is possibly why he had to pace his innings in a way that he batted through to the 20th over, which he eventually did.
"People keep talking about strike-rate," said Babar, who has also been often criticized for his strike-rate, while speaking on a podcast. "I’m a different player. I see a situation and adapt to it...winning a match always remains the goal. I focus on winning, building an innings and batting at a strike-rate that helps in achieving that goal."
"Strike-rate is a separate story. Building an innings and winning are different things."
Talking about the T20s, Babar went on to explain that a batter's approach in the Powerplay is different from the one in the death overs of an innings.
"You need a different approach in the first six overs and the last few. I know my game. I know how to make adjustments (according to the situation) and add value. The situation decides how I play. If it allows, I will definitely play in aggressive style," said Babar, who has recently been re-appointed as Pakistan's white-ball captain.
Babar said that its difficult to satisfy everyone and people will continue to voice their opinion.
"No matter how well I play, people will continued to find an issue with my
strike rate
. They will keep raising the bar (for strike-rate) -- 150, then 170, then 200. Everyone has their own style. I don’t compare myself to others."
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