Following Kolkata Knight Riders: Following Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) head coach Abhishek Nayar admitted that dropping batting stalwart Virat Kohli during Royal Challengers Bengaluru chase proved to be the turning point in Raipur.
In a clinical display led by Kohli’s mastery in yet another run chase, RCB moved to the top of the points table with a commanding six-wicket victory over KKR in Raipur. After Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s steady 71 had anchored KKR to a competitive 192/4, it was Kohli’s breathtaking unbeaten 105 that took RCB over the line.
Kohli, coming off consecutive ducks, looked in supreme touch from the first delivery. He took on the KKR pace attack with clinical precision; in the process, he was dropped on the score of 21, which proved too costly for KKR as the chase master went on to raise his ninth IPL century.
“When you drop Virat Kohli, especially in a chase, it becomes very difficult,” Nayar said after KKR’s six-wicket defeat. There are a lot of things that could have been better. Virat’s catch was a very tough one. The Angkrish catch, you would expect him to take,” Nayar said in the post-match press conference.
The KKR head coach also pointed to the absence of mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, which left a significant hole in the middle overs. “At the end of the day, cricket works like that. If we had another 10-15 runs, maybe the game changes. If those catches are taken, maybe the game changes. If Varun Chakravarthy plays, maybe the game changes,” he added.
KKR produced a strong batting display, starting positively at the top before Raghuvanshi took control of the innings with a superb knock. As the innings progressed, Rinku Singh continued his excellent run of form, bringing his trademark finishing brilliance into play, adding the perfect finishing touch alongside Raghuvanshi’s innings, helping KKR post an imposing total of 192.
“The pitch was good through and through; anytime there is a bit of rain, the first few overs, you expect the ball to swing and seam a bit, which happened, but I still felt we got enough runs on the board, because midway when we had that discussion, we felt anywhere between 180-200 would be a good score,” he said.
“The Varun Chakravarthy part, we have done really well with the Sunny (Narine) and Varun combo, it is unfortunate that we have missed him a lot this season, it is the second time around where he has got a fracture, which is unfortunate for him, but you will always miss a Varun Chakraborty. We know the quality of Sunny and Varun bowling together, so it’s hard to replace a Varun,” Nayar said.
Article Source: IANS