Virat Kohli shouldn’t be a tickler but a puncher: Gavaskar confident RCB captain will hit form in IPL 2021

Batting great Sunil Gavaskar on Tuesday urged Virat Kohlli to stick to his strengths in order to return to peak form in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. Virat Kohli departed for 12 as his inconsistent run continued in the new season but the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain marshalled his troops well to lead them to a 1-run win over Delhi Capitals in a last-over thriller in Ahmedabad.

Sunil Gavaskar said Virat Kohli should drive and punch instead of looking to tickle early on in the innings to find consistency in IPL 2021. Kohli exited early despite showcasing his class early on when he tried to play one down to the third man against Avesh Khan. Kohli paid the price as he an inside edge crashed into the stumps as early as the 4th over.

Kohli began IPL 2021 with two 30-plus scores and even got a fifty against Rajasthan Royals but he has also managed three below-par scores. RCB are on top of the IPL 2021 points table with 5 wins from 6 matches but they would like Kohli to fire at the top of the order.

“Yes, he hasn’t fired. He sets such high standards for himself that every time he comes out to bat, people expect a big innings from him, a 50-plus innings from him. I just want to say maybe he should not be the tickler, he should be the puncher,” Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports.

“What he tried to do today (on Tuesday) was he tried to tickle the ball for a single, he should be looking to hit the ball in such a way the way he drives, the way he punches it around the extra cover area so that’s exactly what he has to do. He has got to play it straight, he has got to not look to guide the ball to the third man because you want somebody like a Virat Kohli to be punching as he does.

“That flick that he played, those are his strengths. He must keep playing to his strengths, he will be backing to getting runs,” he added.

You can walk around the earth to see ABD bat: Gavaskar

Meanwhile, Gavaskar heaped rich praise on AB de Villiers, saying he would pay to watch the former South Africa batsman play all 20 overs in a T20 match.

AB de Villiers continued to impress as the RCB star smashed 75 in just 43 balls, hitting 3 sixes in a game-changing final over against Marcus Stoinis. With 2 fifty-plus scores, de Villiers has scored 204 runs in 6 matches in this season.

“It’s amazing, it’s just magical. You can walk around the earth just to see AB de Villiers bat. He brings so much joy, he makes your jaw drop with the kind of audacity with which he plays the shots,” Gavaskar said.

“When you see a genius like that, you want to watch him carry on. You want to say ‘why don’t you send him to open the batting because we can get to see more of him?’. Let’s see 20 overs of AB de Villiers. That’s what I, as a former batsman, always say when I see him in this kind of form,” he added.