Virat Kohli under lot of pressure this IPL, other RCB batters need to support him: Steve Smith
Mumbai (PTI): Virat Kohli is "under a lot of pressure" in the ongoing IPL owing to the collective failure of Royal Challengers Bengaluru batters, feels former Australia captain Steve Smith who wants the Indian superstar's RCB teammates to come good in the supporting act.
Kohli has waged a lone battle for RCB this IPL season with 203 runs in four matches at 67.66 with two fifties. The second-best batter, Dinesh Karthik, is way behind with 90 runs in as many games.
Despite Kohli's consistency, RCB have faltered with three losses in four matches throwing them as far back as the seventh spot in the points table. The likes of Glenn Maxwell, skipper Faf du Plessis and Cameron Green have been underwhelming so far with the bat.
"He needs the other key batters to stand up with him, and if they do that, they can turn things around for their season. But, at the moment, they're not so a lot of pressure is on Virat," Smith, a member of the Star Sports Incredible Star Cast, told PTI in an exclusive interaction at the channel's studio here.
"I doubt he'd be putting extra pressure on himself. (But) some of the other top-order and middle-order (batters) need to help Virat," he said.
Smith warned that Kohli is not going to score runs in every match and RCB batters must get their act together.
"He started the campaign really well in the IPL and he needs some support. He's not going to score runs on every occasion," he said.
"But, I doubt he'd be thinking that way. I don't think he'd go out and put extra pressure on himself. He'd just go out and play and see what happens in that game."
Smith rubbished the criticism which Kohli has faced time and again in his career over his batting strike-rate saying that no player in the world can read situations as well as the Indian batter. Kohli has been hitting at over 140 in this year's IPL.
"Virat is an incredible player. What he does really well, and probably better than most people in the world, is (that) he sums up the conditions and the situation of the game and plays accordingly," he said.
"If he needs to strike big, he does. If he needs to bring it back a little bit and build some partnerships...You don't need 180 on every ground; 150-160 might be enough on some grounds," he added.
"Virat sums up the conditions really well and the situation. I'm not fussed about the strike rate," Smith continued.
Smith also touched upon another controversy-mired sub-plot in the IPL -- Hardik Pandya's captaincy of Mumbai Indians and the fan backlash he is facing. He understands why Pandya has been subjected to jeering in all three matches so far, but also wants fans to stop holding on to the past.
"Yes and no. Obviously, there was that (booing) going on in the first two games. It sort of becomes a bit of a thing, if that makes sense. But, it was unfortunate, I think. I'd love to see them supporting Hardik. Obviously, there's a lot of huge Rohit fans out there," he said.
"A lot of people are a bit annoyed that he's not the captain of the side. But, everyone needs to let go of that and support Hardik. He's a wonderful player. He had a lot of success at Gujarat (Titans). He's back (as) captain of the side at Mumbai now.
"The senior players need to help him out," Smith said.
Being a subject of severe international scrutiny as Australia captain back in 2018 following the ball-tampering incident in Cape Town which led to him being banned for one year, Smith shared some insights on what it takes to come out.
"While all this negativity is out there, he has got to find ways to cope with it and mechanisms to deal with it," Smith said.
"Everyone is different (in) the way they do that. For me, personally, I just block everything out. I don't listen to anything; I don't listen to any comments, or boos, or anything like that.
"It's difficult to say, but you kind of just have to let it be. Block it out as much as you can, and just get on with the job at hand. I think the best way for him to turn people around is if Mumbai start winning, that's the key thing," Smith said.
Smith, however, rejected suggestions that the off-field drama has been a factor in MI's three successive losses.
"One thing about the Mumbai Indians is (that) they're notoriously bad starters in the tournament. They've done it on numerous occasions," he said.
"I don't think they'd be too worried just yet. But, they will have to turn things around really quickly. It doesn't look good, 0-3 at the bottom of the table. They have to turn things around really quickly," he added.
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Delhi sizzles at 42.8 deg C, logs hottest day of year so far
New Delhi (PTI): The national capital sweltered on Saturday, recording its highest maximum temperature of the year so far. Several weather stations reported heatwave conditions across the city, even as the IMD has forecast rain from Monday to Wednesday, bringing some hope of respite to Delhiites.
While a yellow alert had been issued for Saturday, a similar alert remains in place for Sunday as well, warning people of isolated heatwave conditions.
On Saturday, Safdarjung, representative of the city's weather, recorded a maximum temperature of 42.8 degrees Celsius, 5.1 degrees above normal and a 0.9-degree rise from the day before, thus fulfilling the criteria for a heatwave.
According to the India Meteorological Department, a heatwave is classified when the maximum temperature is 40 degrees Celsius or above, and it is 4.5 degrees to 6.4 degrees above normal.
This was also the highest maximum recorded in Delhi in the last four years since 2022, when the maximum had reached 43.5 degrees Celsius on April 28, 2022.
Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 25.2 degrees Celsius, 2.5 degrees above normal and a mere 0.7-degree rise from the day before.
Other weather stations also recorded isolated heatwave conditions. Lodhi Road recorded a maximum temperature of 42.6 degrees Celsius, 5.6 degrees above the normal; Ridge recorded a minimum of 44.5 degrees, 6.1 degrees above the normal; and Ayanagar logged a minimum temperature of 43.2 degrees Celsius, 4.8 degrees above the normal.
While the IMD had initially classified Friday as the season's first isolated heat wave, the MeT department later clarified on Saturday that it had been the third consecutive day of a heatwave.
IMD classifies a heatwave when at least two stations have met the required criteria. An IMD official clarified that while Delhi had fulfilled the heatwave condition only in one station on Thursday, the two-step criteria are actually for the entire subdivision of Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi.
"On Thursday, one station, Rohtak to be specific, of Haryana and Ridge of Delhi, had satisfied heatwave criteria, thus making it the first day. Saturday was the third consecutive day of heat waves," an IMD official said.
Meanwhile, the weather department has issued a yellow alert for Sunday as well. The official added, "These conditions are likely to continue till Sunday.
Under the influence of the setting in of lower tropospheric level easterly winds, the maximum temperature might drop on Tuesday, as forecasts suggest very light rain possible from Monday.
According to forecasts by the MeT department, a spell of very light rain, along with thunderstorms and gusty winds, might bring some respite from Monday to at least Wednesday. The maximum temperature is forecast to fall to 38-40 degrees Celsius by the end of next week.
The minimum temperature is likely to be around 25-27 degrees Celsius for the next couple of days.
The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of Delhi stood at 243 (poor) at 4 pm, compared to an AQI of 226 (poor) recorded at the same time on Friday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
According to CPCB standards, an AQI of 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor', and 401-500 'severe'.
The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi has forecast the AQI to remain in the poor category over the weekend and then improve to the moderate category in the subsequent days.
