IPL 2023: 'At times, even Virat Kohli....' - Harsha Bhogle's opinion has fans divided
IPL 2023: Shikhar Dhawan's patient knock for PBKS against RR led to his side's win on Wednesday. However, his initial strike rate led to some scrutiny from Harsha Bhogle, who even brought Virat Kohli and KL Rahul into the mix, leading to fans debating.
FollowSenior opener Shikhar Dhawan's patient knock of a 56-ball 80 played a critical role on Wednesday, during Match 7 of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL), as e led Punjab Kings (PBKS) to a five-run success against former champion Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) Stadium in Guwahati.
However, Dhawan's initial start to the innings had a slow strike rate that drew the attention of renowned Indian cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle, who brought up the issue of an anchor batter. Interestingly, he also brought Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB's) Virat Kohli and Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG's) KL Rahul into the mix.
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Taking to his official Twitter handle, Bhogle registered, "Shikhar Dhawan's innings will raise, should raise, the question of whether you can have an anchor batter, especially in these conditions. You can appear to have increased your strike rate by the end, but the 30 balls at run-a-ball can hurt."
"This topic is not specific to Shikhar today. We have been talking about it over the last 2-3 years, about fine players like KL Rahul, Babar Azam, at times even Virat Kohli & Jos Buttler. My view is that in a 150-160 game, you might consider that role but not in a 180-190 game," added Bhogle.
While Bhogle appeared to have been proven wrong by Dhawan later during his innings, fans did not take his opinion on a light note. In contrast, some Kohli and Rahul fans divided themselves in their views. One user noted, "What do you mean "even Virat Kohli"? He literally plays 50(40) sort of knocks 90% of the time time. But yeah, you can't say that cause you'll lose your job if you criticize supreme leader Kohli. Pathetic."
Another user pointed out, "No one raised an eyebrow when KL played the same role for three seasons", whereas a user stated, "Excellent innings from #ShikharDhawan... A highly underrated cricketer & one of the best in the last decade, along with Kohli & Rohit in white ball cricket. Doesn't deserve this selective criticism..."
In the meantime, one user came up with a logical explanation that read, "Absolutely right. This is the main reason behind India's debacle in the recently concluded T20 World Cup, where Indian Team management was trying to Accommodate both Rahul & Kohli despite eating up a lot of deliveries in the power play overs. It cost India World Cup."
