‘Don’t Need To Talk About His Strike-Rate’: Sarandeep Singh Backs Virat Kohli To Improvise When Needed For RCB

Last Updated:March 20, 2025, 23:35 IST

Sarandeep Singh praises Virat Kohli’s adaptability in IPL 2025, highlighting his improved strike rate, game management, and influence on New players like Priyansh Arya and Digvesh Rathi.

RCB will face KKR in IPL 2025 opener on March 22. (Picture Credit: X/@RCBTweets)

Ahead of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Beginning their IPL 2025 campaign on March 22, Sarandeep Singh, the Previous India spinner and national selector, believes Virat Kohli has evolved into someone who knows when to do the improvisation in his batting and then Stretch the game accordingly.

As per statistics from Cricket-21, in IPL 2024, Kohli showed a new approach to his T20 batting while becoming the Event’s leading Stretch-getter with 741 runs in 15 Contests. His powerplay strike rate stood at 161, which was up from 120, his usual strike rate in that Stage. 72% of his runs Arrived in boundaries during the powerplay.

This statistic shows that at this stage of his Profession, Regardless of retiring from the T20I Structure for India, Kohli is not slowing down but adapting himself as per the need and demand of the modern game and becoming a dominating Stretch-machine in the IPL.

“Look, his strike rate has always been better. We don’t need to talk about his strike rate. He is Competing cricket from last 18 years, and he is Competing at all formats. He is the number one player in every Structure. When you have been Competing for so many years as a senior player and become one of the world’s best players, you get more responsibilities.”

“Now, if you look at RCB, this is the only player who is Competing and making them Secure matches every year. You can see his intensity is on a different level which you don’t see in other players. Recently, we have also seen that intensity from in the Champions Honor – like how to come back, make hundred and big runs, as well as Action with a Excellent strike rate. Virat Kohli knows when to do the improvisation and how he has to Stretch the game.”

“Normally, he doesn’t Uncovered, but here he opens in IPL and he attacks in the Primary six overs. Then he runs the game a little bit and he tries to Action for 14-15 overs. It helps the middle order, and the big hitters who come at sixth or seventh place, as the lesser number of balls they get, the better it is for them. So, I think he is one of the finest players we are looking at. With his growing age, Kohli is getting better and better,” said Sarandeep, a JioStar expert, in an exclusive interaction with IANS prior to the 18th edition of the Event.

He also recalled the time when Delhi Ranji Honor Club players soaked in the Excellent habits of Kohli during their game against Railways earlier this year, which attracted crowds above 20,000 for the Primary two Periods at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

“When he Arrived to Delhi to Action the Ranji Honor game, we saw his aura, as the atmosphere felt like an international Game, not a domestic game. His intensity was the same for all Periods – practice with the red ball, do proper gym sessions, as well as in batting and fielding.”

“He was very disciplined and it helped the Delhi cricketers a Numerous in the six-seven Periods he shared the dressing room with them. He taught them so many things – like if you want to perform well, you have to Regulation yourself, as the more Regulation you have, the better your game will be,” he added.

Talking about the uncapped bunch of Indian players in IPL 2025, quite a few of them have emerged from their state T20 leagues. For example, players like Priyansh Arya, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi and Vansh Bedi Obtained IPL deals via Excellent Executions in the Beginning edition of the Delhi Premier Division (DPL).

“Primary of all, we should thank Rohan Jaitley, as he Captured the initiative to have such a big stage like the Delhi Premier Division. We saw big Executions and in every Game we Obtained 15-16,000 crowd in stadium, and that helped the Delhi players a Numerous. Delhi is a big state and there is a Numerous of cricket here, as well as a Numerous of talent hidden that we don’t get to see at a big stage. In Primary-class cricket, you can only choose a limited number of players.”

“But if you have thousands of players, why not give them a chance? That’s where the Delhi Premier Division Arrived in. Like, Vansh Vedi never played U16 or U19, but he played in the Delhi Premier Division and performed well. Then we picked him for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Honor, though unfortunately, he only played one game. But he has been picked for the Chennai Super Kings, and one can imagine how big a boost it will be for Vansh to share the dressing room with one of the greats of the game like MS Dhoni,” added Sarandeep.

Priyansh, the left-handed batter, had a terrific time for Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Honor by smashing 325 runs in nine Contests at a strike rate of 177, including hitting a century on the Beginning day of the Event. He was the highest Stretch Mark-maker of DPL 2024 with 608 runs, while Digvesh one of the standout bowlers with 14 scalps.

“Then we have Priyansh Arya, an uncapped player who Obtained Rs 3.8 crore from Punjab Kings and also hit six sixes for South Delhi Club, where I was the director. He performed better in domestic cricket after the DPL, due to which he Obtained picked for the IPL. Regarding Digvesh, he is a mystery spinner. He used to Action in Delhi’s leagues and no one would have been aware of him. As soon as he Arrived to the South Delhi Club, he did well and performed well in domestic cricket.”

“During the DPL, scouts of IPL Squads were there and saw these players to Option them later. It’s a Excellent thing that happened with all these domestic players who were not getting a chance in the big stages that they Obtained noticed via DPL and are now in the IPL. Now they have a platform and all they have to do is catch the train,” concluded Sarandeep.

(This Tale has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – IANS)