Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli was extremely disappointed and unhappy with his batsmen against Mumbai Indians and believes they squandered a chance to make a statement. RCB who were chasing 214 against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai fell 46 runs short of the target, with Kohli being the lone warrior with a strokeful unbeaten 92.
“We just threw it away, and must reflect on our dismissals. Few good partnerships would’ve done the trick for us. Not the 40-45 scores but 80-85 one. But credit to Mumbai who bowled really well,” Kohli said post the defeat.
With his swashbuckling knock, Virat Kohli is now the highest scorer in this season’s IPL and is also the current owner of the orange cap. Kohli’s run tally after four games stands at 201.
“I don’t really want to wear the orange cap right now. Mumbai played well, we didn’t get any chances, and when you have your back against the wall – like they did – they could play fearlessly. We tried our hardest but couldn’t get the breakthroughs in after the two early wickets,” a dejected Kohli added.
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma though was pleased with his team’s performance as they broke a run of defeats in their fourth game.
“It wasn’t the ideal situation and I thought Umesh bowled in the right areas. There’s always something for the seamers in the first six overs, but the wicket was still soft when I came in, so just wanted to assess the situation and pace my innings. Always easier when you spend some time in the crease. This is a perfect game for us,” Rohit said after the win.
Mumbai’s batting, especially the captain has come under some scrutiny in the early stages of the IPL this year, but Rohit who will feel better after the 94 run knock says he is likely to bat at number four for Mumbai to give support to middle order.
“We can take lot of confidence from this game and move ahead. Yes, we lost the last three games, but we’ve played some good cricket. It was all about putting a collective performance. The idea behind me at No. 4 is to give the team some support towards the middle. That’s why it’s important to have an experienced player in the middle. Whatever I need to do for the team,” he said.
Rohit also showered high praise on the West Indian opener Evin Lewis who saw two of his teammates dismissed of their first ball at the beginning of the innings before going on to score an important half century.
“Lewis is very hard to bowl at once he gets in. The other day he played a crucial knock as well, but we did a mistake of not finishing off against Delhi Daredevils. If he continues to bat this way, then life will be much easier for our other batsmen,” he said.
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