The second phase of the Indian Premier League in the UAE has started in a bang where Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has won the game against Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians. Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Kohli looked quite comfortable in the middle as he smashed 51 off 42 as well. Although Devdutt Padikkal went for a duck, it was Glenn Maxwell’s day as he also smashed 56 off 37 and RCB posted a decent total of 165 on the board. While chasing, Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock got off to a flying start, adding 57 runs within 7 runs.
However, after their dismissal, the middle-order failed to carry the momentum as no one could reach the double-figure and they eventually lost the game by 54 runs. Harshal Patel took 4 wickets, including a hattrick and sealed the deal for his side.
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Meanwhile, after the game, Virat Kohli was seen consoling a dejected Ishan Kishan, who once again failed to score. He could manage only 9 runs and has been going through a rough patch for quite some time now. And, the video went viral in no time.
Ishu almost cried 😕 pic.twitter.com/82LUj7GVcg
— N (@neilectric) September 26, 2021
Virat Kohli, after having won the game, said: “Very happy and especially the way we won. It was a difficult start with the loss of Devdutt [Padikkal] in the second over. The way Jasprit [Bumrah] bowled that over, totally set the game up for MI. It was important from thereon for us to stamp our presence in the game and take a little bit of risk. I got off to a good start and KS [Srikar Bharat] took the pressure off me, Maxi’s [Maxwell] innings was unbelievable as well. I thought we got par, 166 is par here, still felt like 10-15 more with the way we bowled. 8 for 30 was unbelievable against such a strong batting lineup.”
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“You have to get into the bowler’s space every now and then, especially when you are up against world-class performers like Bumrah, you have to be at our level best. Tonight I don’t think there’s no complaints whatsoever, I will give it a 10 especially on the field. Maybe in batting I will give it 8, we should’ve got 20-25 more – really put the opposition under pressure and not allow them to come back after a breakthrough. I had a chat with AB and Maxi, they told me to go with my gut feel. My gut feel said DC [Christian] is an experienced campaigner, he still has got a slower bouncer in there which could be a wicket-taking option. Chahal was bowling really well but I felt there wasn’t enough in the pitch to stop them at that stage. They definitely would’ve gone after Chahal [talking about Hardik and Pollard]. I went with DC – he bowled an amazing over, completely shut the game down and what Harshal did from the other end was unbelievable,” he concluded.
