IPL 2019: No One Wants To Start Like This: Virat Kohli
Credits: BCCI

Virat Kohli and his Royal Challengers Bangalore teammates were given a hard reality check on the very first day of another season as defending champions Chennai Super Kings showed them just how tough it is to win the league. Just like the previous eleven seasons, the Royal Challengers are once again one of the favourites to win the title. However, if the first match is anything to go by then they will have to at least one more year to lay hands on the coveted title.

Almost everything went wrong for the Royal Challengers at the Chepauk on Saturday. Virat Kohli lost the toss and his team had to bat first on a tough pitch and they did pay a big price.  Harbhajan Singh ran through the Royal Challengers’ top-order to leave them reeling at 38 for 3. The veteran spinner dismissed Virat Kohli, Moeen Ali and AB de Villiers in quick succession to put the Super Kings on top. Shimron Hetmyer was then run out for a duck before fellow debutant Shivam Dube departed too as Royal Challengers found themselves 5 down for 45.

Opener Parthiv Patel, however, held firm from one end and scored 29 to take the score past the 50-run mark before becoming the last wicket to fall for 70.

Read More  4,4,6,4,6: Riyan Parag destroys Anrich Nortje, hits him for 25 runs in an over (Watch Video)

For the Super Kings, Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir starred with the ball, picking up three wickets apiece.

In reply, the Super Kings also struggled to get going on the tough pitch. In-form Shane Watson departed for a ten-ball ball duck. Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina then steadied the ship but found it tough to score at a brisk pace.  Moeen Ali then dismissed Raina for 19 to reduce the hosts to 40 for 2. But with not much on the scoreboard, the Super Kings eventually huffed and puffed over the line in the 18th over.

Speaking at the end of the game, Virat Kohli said:

 

“No one wants to start like this, but it’s good to get a game like this out of the way – this early in the tournament. We spoke of trying to be in the game, taking it to the 18th over was nice to see. The batting wasn’t good, it wasn’t easy to bat on, looked much better surface though, I thought 140-150 would have been an ideal score, especially with dew expected later on.

“A scrappy start to the league, but I don’t think either team had control over it, the pitch was under the covers for 4 days, but we should have batted better, 110-120 would have been a fighting score. He (Saini) has been good in conditions where there’s some grass, got his chance now. I thought CSK played really well, they deserved to win, but I loved to see our team fighting all the way,” added Virat Kohli.

Read More  Watch: 'Virat Kohli's RCB haven't won anything' - Gautam Gambhir's war-declaring video breaks internet

 

 

An avid cricket lover, I just love this game more than anything. Writing about cricket keeps me closer to the game.