Virat Kohli explains Gayle and Sarfaraz exclusions against Supergiants

Virat Kohli was the star of the show as the Royal Challengers Bangalore carved out an important win against the Rising Pune Supergiants. Apart from scoring a blazing century and quite literally winning the match for the Royal Challengers rather single-handedly, Kohli explained why two of the biggest batting sensations in the form of Chris Gayle and Sarfaraz Khan were left out of the side.

While the duo hasn’t been in the best of the form of late, Kohli reiterated that Chris Gayle wasn’t indeed dropped, stating that Travis Head was drafted into the side to strengthen the middle order. The 27-year old also added that KL Rahul was playing well above his expectations while Travis Head’s ball striking prowess was something the Challengers were missing in their middle order.

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“He wasn’t rested. We chose Travis Head in place of him because we felt that we needed more solidity in the middle.”

“Travis strikes the ball really well and KL (Rahul) and I are opening well for the team, and Travis can bowl off-spin as well in the middle if need be. Also, Travis was brought in as Pune boasted of three left-handed batsmen,” he explained.

Speaking on Sarfaraz Khan, Kohli stated that Sachin Baby was brought in as a replacement due to the latter’s superior athleticism. The RCB skipper also added that Baby was committed to his fitness and worked on his fielding skills extremely hard. In addition, Sachin Baby is also known to smash the ball a long way

Kohli said,”Sarfaraz understands the areas in which he needs to work on as far as the fitness and fielding part is concerned. You can’t afford to have too many guys in the field who are not up to the mark with their fielding because the outfield here is lightning quick.

“I think Sachin is in that aspect is very committed and he is fit and he works on those things. Me as captain, I want to have a guy who gives 120 percent on the field and saves some crucial five to six runs.”

The 18-year old Sarfaraz has also been in the fray for national selection as the tour to Zimbabwe looms over the horizon. However, with the way he is playing at the moment, his selection seems highly unlikely.