IPL 2019: This Tournament Is Not That Long, Says Virat Kohli As Time Is Running Out For RCB

Virat Kohli and his men continue to remain winless this season as Royal Challengers Bangalore suffered a crushing six-wicket defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals. Royal Challengers Bangalore’s famed batting line up once again failed to deliver on the expected lines as they could manage only 158 for 4.

Asked to bat first, the Royal Challengers were off to a poor start once again. Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel started well by scoring 48 runs in the powerplay but things soon turned when Shreyas Gopal was introduced in the attack. On the very second ball after the powerplay, he castled Virat Kohli for 23. He soon dismissed AB de Villiers (13) and Shimron Hetmyer (1) to leave the Royal Challengers reeling at 73 for 3.

Parthiv and Marcus Stoinis then provided the innings some stability by sharing 53-run stand for the fourth wicket. During the stand, Parthiv scored his fastest IPL fifty, reaching the milestone in just 29 deliveries. Jofra Archer broke the stand by dismissing Parthiv for 67. Parthiv’s knock came off 41 deliveries and contained nine fours and a six.

Stoinis and Moeen Ali then added 32 runs in the final 16 balls to help Royal Challengers Bangalore finish on 158 for 4.

In reply, Royals chased down the total with a ball remaining. While the scoreboard suggests that it was a close game but Royals rarely looked in trouble after their openers Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Buttler laid the platform with a 60-run stand.

Speaking at the end of the match, Royal Challengers skipper Virat Kohli admitted that his team was 15-20 runs short. He also admitted that the team made a lot of mistakes, pointing out to the four dropped catches.

“We were 15-20 runs short. Marcus and Moeen got us to a competitive score. With the dew factor, 15 runs more would have been more challenging. It wasn’t easy to score in the end as the wicket became slower. We made a lot of mistakes in the match (dropped catches). In a tournament like IPL when team hasn’t got off to a great start then bodies in the outfield can be a bit stiff. There can be a bit of nervousness. In four games, we would have wanted one or maybe two games to go our way,” said Virat Kohli.

Kohli also made it clear that the team would bring in ‘fresh guys’ who can put up match-winning performances.

“We have 10 games to go, hopefully we can turn things around. We played well against Mumbai and in this game. This tournament is not that long, it is not going to go on for months and you have to think on your feet and have to think about the best combination going forward. Hopefully, we will get fresh guys in and they can give a match-winning performance,” he added.