IPL 2019: Last Four Overs That We Bowled Was Just Unacceptable: Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli and his Royal Challengers Bangalore teammates had another night to forget in the ongoing season as they lost by five wickets against Kolkata Knight Riders to suffer their fifth consecutive win of the season. For large part of the game, the Royal Challengers were in the driver’s seat before they came against Andre Russell, the man who has already single-handed destroyed the likes of Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab this season.

Batting first, the Royal Challengers rode on fifties from their skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers to post a daunting total of 205. And when Navdeep Saini dismissed Dinesh Karthik in the 17th over to leave the Knight Riders reeling at 139 for 4, it looked all over for the visitors. While Russell was definitely there, scoring 53 off just 18 balls was looking like an improbable task. However, the game ended with five balls remaining.

Russell faced 13 deliveries and slammed 7 sixes and a four to pull a victory for his team from the jaws of defeat. The allrounder remained unbeaten on 48 from just 13 balls as the Knight Riders registered their third win of the season.

Speaking at the end of the game, a dejected Virat Kohli came down hard on his bowlers, saying that the bowling in the last four overs was ‘just unacceptable’.

“There is no guessing there (about where they lost), the last 4 four overs that we bowled was just unacceptable. We needed to be more clever, nothing came off and we just cracked under pressure. That’s been our story this season so far. If you bowl with not enough bravery in the crucial overs, it’s always going to be difficult against power-hitters like Russell. I wasn’t really happy getting out at that moment, could’ve got 20-25 more. AB didn’t get much strike in the end. I thought the runs were enough on the board, we didn’t have enough composure. If you can’t defend 75 in the last four overs, then I don’t know if you can defend 100,” said Virat Kohli who scored 84.

Kohli also made it clear that instead of giving players a harsh talk, the team would give them space to make a strong comeback.

“We can have a bit of chat about what went wrong, apart from that nothing much you can say. I don’t think talking enough helps all the time. You need to give the guys some space and come back stronger in the next game. It’s been a disappointing season so far, but we are still optimistic about our chances. We just have to believe in ourselves that we can turn things around,” he added.