IPL 2025: AB de Villiers says Virat Kohli must play ‘smart cricket’ rather than focus on strike rate

Virat Kohli’s strike rate for Royal Challengers Bengaluru came under some scrutiny over the past few Indian Premier League seasons. But the cricketer’s close friend AB de Villiers believes that with the RCB drafting in heavy-hitters like Phil Salt in the side in the mega auctions, Kohli’s focus should be on playing “smart cricket” and controlling the game rather than worrying about his personal strike rate.

“Virat seems to be enjoying his cricket. I don’t think he’s going to have to up his strike rate batting with Phil Salt. Salt is one of the most attacking players we’ve ever seen. I think he’s going to take a lot of pressure off Virat. Virat needs to continue what he’s been doing for so many years…control the game, play smart cricket. He’s got the best instinct of any player out there. He knows when to up the ante a bit and when to lower it,” de Villiers, who became a mainstay at RCB for 11 seasons, said on JioStar Press Room on Tuesday.

Giving Kohli and Salt company in the batting order this season will be the likes of Liam Livingstone, Tim David and Romario Shepherd.

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De Villiers said some of the criticism that Kohli had received over the past year was “unnecessary”.

“Virat needs to be the captain of the batting department in this tournament and really just keep things together, play smart cricket to make sure they don’t find those collapses in the batting order. There’s no doubt some of the outside noise has maybe influenced him a bit. He’s only human, he’s definitely got those doubts in his head. But the one thing about Virat is that he’s always had the ability to, when it matters most, when he crosses that line for his team, block everything out and it’s business time,” the South African added.