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Tag: Royal Challengers Bangalore

  • Tried to create culture for youngsters, have given my best, says Kohli as he bids goodbye to RCB captaincy

    By PTI

    SHARJAH: Virat Kohli expects the new leadership group in Royal Challengers Bangalore to maintain the “culture” of giving opportunities to youngsters for playing expressive cricket as his innings as captain of the side ended without an IPL trophy.

    RCB was knocked out of this year’s edition after losing the Eliminator to KKR by four wickets but Kohli promised to stay with the team as a player because “loyalty” is everything for him.

    “I have tried my best to create a culture here where youngsters could come in and play with freedom and belief. It is something I have done with India as well,” Kohli, who led the side for a decade, said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

    Kohli finished with below-par 66 wins to 70 defeats in 140 games as RCB skipper, something that will certainly be a blot in his chequered career.

    “I have given my best. I don’t know how the response has been, but I have given 120% to this franchise every time, which is something I will now do as a player. It is a great time to regroup and restructure for the next three years with people who will take this ahead,” the outgoing skipper said.

    “I don’t see myself playing anywhere else. Loyalty matters more to me than worldly pleasures. I would be in the RCB till the last day I play in the IPL.”

    ALSO READ: Narine made it look easy with his outstanding spell, says KKR captain Eoin Morgan

    On the match, Kohli felt that it was trio of Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy who tilted the match in KKR’s favour.

    “Those middle overs where their spinner dominated the game was the difference. They kept bowling in tight areas and kept picking wickets. We had a great start and it was about quality bowling and not bad batting. They thoroughly deserve to win this one and be in the next round.”

    Kohli was happy that his team fought till the end.

    “The fight till the end with the ball has been the hallmark of our team. That one big over (22 runs) in the middle deflated our chances. We fought till the last over and made an amazing game out of it.”

    Kohli admitted that the par score could have been around 155.

    “Fifteen runs less with the bat and a couple of big overs with the ball cost us. Sunil Narine has always been a quality bowler and today he once again showed it. Shakib, Varun and him created pressure and didn’t allow our batsmen to get away in the middle.”

  • IPL 2021, Eliminator: Narine fires Kolkata into Qualifier 2 ending Kohli-led RCB’s trophy run

    By PTI

    SHARJAH: Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets in the IPL Eliminator to set up the Qualifier 2 against Delhi Capitals.

    Skipper Virat Kohli made a 33-ball 39 while his opening partner Devdutt Padikkal contributed 21 runs.

    Spinner Sunil Narine rocked the RCB batting order with a four-wicket haul while Lockie Ferguson dismissed two batters.

    Narine then returned to play an impact knock of 26 runs off 15 balls after Shubhman Gill (29) and Venkatesh Iyer (26) provided a good start to KKR.

    Skipper Eoin Morgan (5) and Shakib Al Hasan (9) took the side home with two balls to spare.

    Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore: 138 for 7 in 20 overs (V Kohli 39, D Padikkal 21; S Narine 4/21, L Ferguson 2/30).

    Kolkata Knight Riders: 139 for 6 in 19.4 overs. (S Gill 29, V Iyer 26, S Narine 26, N Rana 23; Y Chahal 2/16, H Patel 2/19).

  • Sunil Narine takes four as KKR restrict RCB to 138/7 in IPL eliminator

    By PTI

    SHARJAH: Electing to bat, Royal Challengers Bangalore scored 138 for seven against Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL eliminator here on Monday.

    Skipper Virat Kohli made a 33-ball 39 while his opening partner Devdutt Padikkal contributed 21 runs.

    Spinner Sunil Narine rocked the RCB batting order with a four-wicket haul while Lockie Ferguson dismissed two batsmen.

    Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore: 138 for 7 in 20 overs (V Kohli 39, D Padikkal 21; S Narine 4/21, L Ferguson 2/30).

  • IPL 2021, Eliminator: Royal Challengers Bangalore win toss, elect to bat against Kolkata Knight riders

    By PTI

    SHARJAH: Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat against Kolkata Knight riders in the IPL Eliminator here on Monday.

    Both the teams are unchanged from their previous matches.

    Chennai Super Kings have already booked their place in the summit clash on October 15.

    Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders: Eoin Morgan (C), Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik, Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Lockie Ferguson and Varun Chakravarthy.

    Royal Challengers Banaglore: Virat Kohli (C), Devdutt Padikkal, KS Bharat, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dan Christian, George Garton, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammad Siraj.

  • RCB release Hasaranga, Chameera from bio-bubble to join Sri Lanka for T20 World Cup qualifiers

    By PTI

    DUBAI: Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday released all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga and pacer Dushmantha Chameera from the team’s bio-bubble to join the Sri Lankan squad ahead of its T20 World Cup qualifiers next week.

    Hasaranga and Chameera were roped in as replacement players for Australians Adam Zampa and Daniel Sams by the franchise ahead of the second leg of the ongoing season.

    While Hasaranga featured in two matches, Chameera was not picked in the playing XI for any of the games.

    The duo will miss RCB’s Eliminator against Kolkata Knight Riders in Sharjah on Monday.

    “Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera have been released from the RCB bio bubble as they join up with the SL team for their #WT20 qualifiers.

    “We wish both of them the best & thank them for their professionalism & hard work during #IPL2021,” RCB tweeted.

    Sri Lanka are part of Group A and will begin their WT20 campaign against Namibia on October 18 in Abu Dhabi.

  • RCB’s Bharat making his chances count

    Express News Service

    BENGALURU: In the first half of IPL 2021, KS Bharat was primarily a bench warmer, waiting for his opportunity to showcase his skills. But, it never came. Few months down the line, the Andhra man has been a regular feature in the Royal Challengers Bangalore batting department and he has been decent. The 28-year-old reserved his best for the last group game against Delhi Capitals, scoring an unbeaten 78, including a match-winning last ball six. That innings alone has been worth his base price of Rs 20 lakhs, the amount Bangalore paid to sign him at the last auction.

    The likes of Rajat Patidar (71 runs, 4 matches) and Sachin Baby (1 run, 1 game) were given a chance in the India leg, but they did not grab the opportunities, something Bharat did. His inclusion has also meant freeing AB de Villiers from the wicket-keeping responsibility. With Bharat being asked to bat at number three in the majority of the matches, he has been flexible with his approach and built some good partnerships in crunch situations.  

    “There’s nothing like I have to create a platform for someone. We as a team play and we as a team get partnerships. So we always focus on getting those mini partnerships. It can be AB (de Villiers), or KS, or Virat (Kohli) bhai, anyone in the team getting those boundaries. We all are built to win games. It is not just one or two individuals here to finish the games,” said Bharat, who has amassed 182 runs in six innings at an average of 45 and a strike rate of 130.

    Bharat, who made his IPL debut this season, has been a part of the squad which has played consistent cricket in all departments to reach the play-offs. If they play such kind of cricket, Bangalore may finally break their IPL trophy duck and a perfect gift for Kohli, who is captaining the franchise for the last time.”Yes, definitely winning the cup and giving Virat bhai that IPL title will be cherry on the cake, but if you ask me, playing with Virat bhai is a very big feeling. Virat loves youngsters, he encourages youngsters…,” said Bharat, who will be eager to shine against Kolkata Knight Riders in the eliminator on Monday. 

  • IPL 2021: RCB hasn’t played its best cricket yet, but we are getting close, says batter AB de Villiers

    By ANI

    DUBAI: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter AB de Villiers has said that the Virat Kohli-led side has not played their best cricket yet, but they are getting close which augurs well for them heading into the playoffs.

    “Fantastic win, we’re very happy with that, came up short in the last game, but we came up with a last-ball win tonight, so happy. We showed a lot of character as a bowling group, we haven’t always had the best of starts in the first six, which we’re better tonight. We didn’t let Dhawan and Shaw get off to a great start and then pulled things back very well in the back-end. It’s been amazing, shows once again that there is a lot of character in this bowling unit, we’ll need a lot more, but very happy with the way the boys have gone,” de Villiers told host broadcaster Star Sports after the game against Delhi Capitals ended.

    “I’m feeling good, haven’t had a lot of opportunities so far, I’m hitting the ball well, had a bit of a slow start today – thought they bowled well to me on a deck that wasn’t easy to bat on, but I’m striking them well, working hard at the nets and ready to come for the next matches. I think we need to do what we are doing and maybe up it a notch, have been speaking about peaking at the right time. We haven’t played our absolute best, but we’re getting close. If we can get that twitch in the finals, hopefully, there are good things to come,” he added.

    Srikar Bharat and Glenn Maxwell played unbeaten knocks of 78 and 51 respectively as RCB defeated Delhi Capitals by seven wickets at the Dubai International Stadium. On the last ball, RCB needed five for a win, and Bharat ended up hitting the ball for a six off the bowling of Avesh Khan.

    Earlier, Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan played knocks of 48 and 43 as Delhi Capitals posted a total of 164/5 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Apart from Dhawan and Shaw, Shimron Hetmyer also got among the runs as he played a knock of 29. For RCB, Mohammed Siraj returned with two wickets.

    Delhi Capitals finished at the top spot in the points table and now the side will square off against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Qualifier 1 on Sunday. On the other hand, RCB finished at the third spot and Virat Kohli’s team will face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Eliminator on Monday. 

  • Had asked Maxwell if he wanted strike but he said ‘you can finish it off’: KS Bharat after DC win

    By PTI

    DUBAI: Royal Challengers Bangalore’s latest star Kona Bharat said that his senior partner Glenn Maxwell had complete faith that the Andhra wicketkeeper-batter could finish off the last IPL league game against Delhi Capitals, which he did with a last-ball six.

    Bharat, who has had a good IPL with the bat, smashed 78 not out off 52 balls as he kept calm under pressure and lofted Avesh for a straight six with five needed off the last delivery to chase down DC’s target of 165.

    The result of the match didn’t have a bearing on points table though as DC finished on top with 20 points and RCB on 18 but in third place due to inferior net run-rate (-0.140) compared to Chennai Super Kings (+0.455).

    Asked what was the talk before the final over, Bharat spoke how Maxwell boosted his confidence.

    “The last over…me and Maxi were talking about what are the areas we can access. He said, watch the ball and get bat on the ball… The last 3 balls, you know I asked him whether to run, he said ‘no, you can finish it off’. It gave me a lot of confidence,” he said.

    Bharat had a couple of good scores of 32 against Mumbai Indians and 44 against Rajasthan Royals. Bharat said he didn’t want to think too much ahead during the last over.

    “I was just focused on one ball which is coming next rather than thinking of too many things. I kept it very simple and as a team, we did very well and we pulled it off,” he added.

    What has worked for Bharat in the UAE leg is the fact that he loves facing fast bowlers and DC has three genuine quicks in Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Avesh.

    “I love fast bowling, to be honest. I have played for India A and am also a part of the Indian team, you get to play with the best bowlers in the country. It wasn’t a surprise element for me to play pace.

    “I would love someone who is giving pace so that you can work the ball instead of hitting the ball hard. I found it really interesting and I was enjoying the challenge,” he added.

    Bharat has been regularly batting at No 3 in this phase of IPL but the management has told him that order will remain flexible.

    “We are flexible to go at any order. It was communicated fair enough. Everyone is up for their challenge. I don’t think there is any miscommunication. When the chances are given to you, you want to do well and finish it off well,” the 28-year old keeper-batter said at the virtual post-match media interaction.

  • We cannot take our foot off the pedal: Delhi Capitals pacer Kagiso Rabada ahead of RCB clash

    By PTI

    DUBAI: Delhi Capitals pacer Kagiso Rabada says his team cannot afford to take its foot off the pedal as it enters the business end of the IPL in pursuit of a maiden title.

    Leading the pecking order with 20 points from 13 games, DC are already through to the play-offs and will take on another qualified side Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last round-robin match.

    “We’ve given ourselves another chance to play for a spot in the final, so we are thrilled by that. Even though the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore doesn’t hold a lot of significance for us we should not take our foot off the pedal. We should just keep playing the way we have been playing,” said the South African.

    “We’ve done really great work so far. We have earned the right to be in this position and we have been in this position before, which helps. We are going to give it our all in the upcoming matches and look to play our best cricket in the business end of the tournament.”

    Rabada said the loss against RCB in the first half of the tournament will not bother the team much.

    “Our loss against RCB in the first half of the tournament is definitely a thing of the past. However, we know how threatening they can be. They have some really destructive batters and Harshal Patel has been doing extremely well.

    “We need to believe in our strengths. The result in our last match against RCB is a thing of the past, but we still need to learn from that result.”

    Rabada found himself in a rather unusual situation in DC’s last match against the Chennai Super Kings when he needed to close out the match with the bat and he got his side home with a boundary.

    “It wasn’t the most ideal situation, but I backed myself to put the team in a winning position when we needed 2 runs from 3 balls, by at least getting (Shimron) Hetmyer on strike.

    “I tried to watch the ball and anticipate where (Dwayne) Bravo was going to bowl. I just wanted to get bat on ball and that worked for us.”

  • How on earth does RCB always leave AB de Villiers to try and perform miracles, asks Dale Steyn

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn has said he finds it difficult to understand why Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) leave AB de Villiers to do too much in the backend of Indian Premier League (IPL) matches.

    A spirited bowling performance saw Kane Williamson-led SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) defeat RCB by four runs at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Wednesday. Bhuvneshwar Kumar defended 13 off the final over against AB de Villiers to help his side register a thrilling victory.

    “I get they’ve qualified, but how on earth does RCB always leave AB to try and perform miracles,” tweeted Steyn. AB de Villiers walked out to bat in the 15th over of the innings and RCB still needed 50 runs to win off 35 balls. In the end, the Proteas batter remained unbeaten on 19 off 13 balls but he failed to take his side over the line.

    Earlier, Jason Roy played a knock of 44 runs as SRH posted a total of 141/7 in the allotted twenty overs. For RCB, Harshal Patel returned with the figures of 3-33.

    RCB will next take on Delhi Capitals on Friday at the Dubai International Stadium.