Virat Kohli’s Strike-Rate in the IPL 2024

India’s World Cup campaign ended in heartbreak in 2023 as they were defeated by Australia in the finals on their own ground, despite leading the Men in Blue throughout. They will have a chance to make amends right away in 2024 because the T20 World Cup will be held in the USA and the West Indies in June. For India, the most important question before the world event is whether or not Virat Kohli and/or Rohit Sharma will be traveling.

India’s last T20I series before the World Cup was against Afghanistan in January. The team selected for that series will most likely be the one that plays in the World Cup. Will Kohli be among them, though?

Given his prominence, Virat Kohli is often in the news, whether for his declining form or because he enjoys hitting hundreds. The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 star batsman for Royal Challengers Bangalore and India has been playing well, but more often than not, his strike rate has pundits scratching their heads. Even though Virat has been scoring runs more quickly than he did in the previous two IPL seasons, pundits don’t think that 135, six more than his overall IPL strike rate of 129, is good enough. 

The 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal was the star player’s final Twenty20 match, where the Men in Blue lost to England by ten wickets. The team has played in seven bilateral series since then, but Kohli hasn’t participated in any of them. In the Twenty20s, he made his comeback in the series against Afghanistan, however he didn’t make much of an impact.

He has played in a significant number of T20 matches since 2022 for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. He will return to the team in 2024 in front of the T20 World Cup. However, the players and setup for RCB are different. Here are some examples of Kohli’s returns from international Twenty20 games:

Virat Kohli Strike Rate in T20 internationals

Innings	Runs	Average	Strike Rate	High Score
107	4008	52.7	138.0	122*

Even though Kohli excels in the ODI format, he is also competitive in the shorter version of the game. Being the only player with more than 4,000 runs, he holds the record for most runs scored in T20I history. This is hardly surprising considering his longevity and skill level. Whether he scores at a fast enough clip is the question.

Batsmen who strike big in t20 cricket

Name	Team	Strike Rate	Average
Evin Lewis	West Indies	152.0	29.9
Ivan Selemani	Tanzania	151.5	25.3
Jos Buttler	England	150.9	46.9
George Munsey	Scotland	143.5	30.0
Aaron Finch	Australia	141.9	32.7
Rohit Sharma	India	141.4	32.4
David Warner	Australia	140.8	32.9
Chris Gayle	West Indies	137.8	28.2
Jason Roy	England	137.6	24.1
Virat Kohli	India	137.6	55.6

Although Kohli is a great run scorer, he scores runs at a slower pace than the other international players who are in the top three batting positions. Because of his average and strikeout rate, he is a batter who has a good chance of scoring a 55 (40), a strong anchoring knock. Additionally, the fact that Kohli plays till the final five overs, when his acceleration is unmatched, may have contributed to an increase in his strike rate. 

Given his prominence, Virat Kohli is often in the news, whether for his declining form or because he enjoys hitting hundreds. The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 star batsman for Royal Challengers Bangalore and India has been playing well, but more often than not, his strike rate has pundits scratching their heads. Even though Virat has been scoring runs more quickly than he did in the previous two IPL seasons, pundits don’t think that 135, six more than his overall IPL strike rate of 129, is good enough. 

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The former Australian cricket player Tom Moody has been particularly critical of Virat Kohli’s approach to the game. Moody didn’t hold back following Virat’s final innings against the Delhi Capitals, where the batsman amassed 55 off 46 at 119.

After Virat’s inning, Moody told ESPNCricinfo, “It’s an interesting one.” This argument will never end because it is modeled after Virat Kohli. It’s his bat technique. His strike rate over a career is about 130. It’s very amazing how many runs he can still muster. However, did they obtain the maximum number possible? We will never know if he attempted to target a boundary over himself and pulled his foot off the brake slightly when traveling with Lomror.”

“But maybe he also felt that whilst the other end was flying along, his role was to feed that other end,” Moody continued. But I think that kind of cricket has been replaced in the game, especially with the impact player. This explains why so many totals are reaching 200 or higher. Such a role does not exist. Since we all have the comfort of depth, we should all be heading here at 150+ without a doubt.”

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Let’s now discuss Virat Kohli’s stats for this season:

In ten games this season, the batsman has amassed 419 runs while batting in every one of them and has not been out once. Even though Virat has an effective average of 46.56, he has hit 56 times with a top score of 82 not out and has hit the runs at 135.16. As the RCB opener, Kohli has scored every run.

Let’s now examine the performance of other openers:

• Yashasvi Jaiswal of the Rajasthan Royals has amassed 477 runs at an average of 43.36 and a strike rate of 160.61 in 11 games.
• Jos Buttler of the Rajasthan Royals has amassed 392 runs at a strike rate of 143.59 and an average of 35.64 in 11 games.
• Kyle Mayers of the Lucknow Super Giants has amassed 359 runs at a strike average of 152.11 and an average of 32.64 in 11 games.
• Ishan Kishan of the Mumbai Indians has amassed 293 runs at a strike rate of 136.92 and an average of 29.30 in 10 games.
• Shubman Gill of the Gujarat Giants has amassed 469 runs with a strike average of 143.43 and an average of 46.90 in 11 games.
• Ruturaj Gaikwad of the Chennai Super Kings has amassed 384 runs at a 42.67 average and a 148.26 strike rate in 10 games.
• Devon Conway of the Chennai Super Kings has amassed 458 runs at a strike rate of 139.21 and an average of 57.25 in 10 games.
• Shikhar Dhawan of the Punjab Kings has amassed 349 runs at a strike rate of 143.62 and an average of 58.17 in 8 games.
• Faf du Plessis of Royal Challengers Bangalore has amassed 511 runs at a strike rate of 157.72 and an average of 56.78 in 10 games.

The statistics above make it evident that out of all the well-known openers—including the seasoned Shikhar Dhawan—Virat has been the slowest, except Ishan Kishan, who hasn’t had a great IPL season but still has close to 300 runs.

Although Virat Kohli’s slowness is nothing new, the speed at which the game has developed means that it is now hurting rather than helping his team. Regarding Virat’s strike rate in previous IPL seasons, he has just three times in the last fifteen years managed to score more than 140. 

Virat Kohli Strike Rate in IPL All Season:

• In 16 matches in 2022, 341 runs at an average of 22.73 were scored with a strike rate of 115.99.
• In 15 matches in 2021, 405 runs at an average of 28.92 were scored with a strike rate of 119.46.
• In 15 matches in 2020, 466 runs at an average of 42.36 were scored with a strike rate of 121.35.
• In 14 matches in 2019, 464 runs at an average of 33.14 were scored with a strike rate of 141.46.
• 530 runs in 14 matches in 2018 at an average of 48.18, with a strike rate of 139.10.
• In 10 matches in 2017, 308 runs at an average of 30.80 were scored with a strike rate of 122.22.
• In 16 matches in 2016, 973 runs at an average of 81.08 were scored with a strike rate of 152.03.
• 2015 saw 505 runs with a strike rate of 130.82, averaged at 45.90, in 16 matches.
• In 14 matches in 2014, 359 runs at an average of 27.61 were scored with a strike rate of 122.10.
• 2013 saw 16 matches with 634 runs at an average of 45.28 and a strike rate of 138.73.
• In 16 matches in 2012, 364 runs at an average of 28.00 were scored with a strike rate of 111.65.
• 2011 saw 557 runs at a strike rate of 121.08, with an average of 46.41 in 16 matches.
• In 16 matches in 2010, 307 runs at an average of 27.90 were scored with a strike rate of 144.81.
• 2009 saw 246 runs at a strike rate of 112.32, with an average of 22.36 in 16 matches.
• 2008 saw 13 matches with 165 runs at an average of 15.00 and a strike rate of 105.09.

It’s obvious that Kohli’s greatest season was 2016, the only other season in his IPL career that he scored at a strike rate of 150 or above. Kohli hasn’t been at his best since 2022; his best strike rate was 121.35 in 2020. After 2016, he had two respectable seasons in 2018 and 2019. Despite this, the batsman scored more than 400 runs twice in three games. Virat had five average seasons before 2016—his finest season—despite amassing more than 500 runs in 2013 and 2015 at a strike rate of 138.73 and 130.82, respectively. Even though Virat has scored more than 400 runs in ten games this season, it would be intriguing to see whether he can increase his strike rate.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1) What is Virat Kohli’s IPL strike rate?

He has made 223 appearances and scored 6624 runs at a strike percentage of 129.15.

2) In the IPL, how many runs did Virat Kohli score?

With an incredible strike rate of 130.02, he has amassed 7,263 runs in 237 games. In addition to this accomplishment, he has hit 234 sixes and 643 fours.

3) In the IPL, who has the highest strike?

In the history of the IPL T20 Tournament, Andre Russell holds the greatest batting strike rate. Russell amassed 2035 runs in 98 games with the Kolkata Knight Riders, hitting at a strike percentage of 177.88.