Kohli highlights importance of partnerships

I analyse the conditions, understand what the score on the board is, understand what the situation demands of me and have the skills to kind of keep rotating the strike and not be stagnant on one end, Kohli said

HYDERABAD: Virat Kohli, the Orange Cap holder with 443 runs from 10 matches, highlighted the importance of “stitching a partnership and taking it deep,” especially in a season where he said it’s been difficult for batters to start hitting from the get-go.

“The total on the board. What the conditions are like. Who are the bowlers that are due to bowl. Who are the bowlers that are going to be hard to get away,” Kohli said after his Royal Challengers Bengaluru outplayed Delhi Capitals in Delhi on Sunday night.

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“So, I try to make sure that my singles and doubles don’t stop. And then you keep getting the odd boundary in between. The game never gets stagnant. So, that’s always been my focus to keep working on rotating strikes, singles and doubles,” he said in a chat with host broadcaster JioHotstar.

“People, I think, are forgetting the importance of stitching in a partnership or going deep into the innings in T20 cricket,” Kohli said.

“And I think this year around, you’re seeing that you can’t just come out and tee off from ball one. You need to have professionalism, to read the situation and try and get into a position where you can start dominating the bowlers,” he said.

“I analyse the conditions, understand what the score on the board is, understand what the situation demands of me and have the skills to kind of keep rotating the strike and not be stagnant on one end,” Kohli said.

“Whenever there’s a chase or there’s a situation I go in, I keep checking with the dugout whether we are on course, what is my role, what is the kind of innings I need to play,” Kohli said. “It was a top win, we were under pressure, 3 for 26 and then me and Krunal getting a 100-run partnership,” he said.