“We Deserved to Lose”: Virat Kohli Harshly Criticizes RCB After 21-Run Loss to KKR

Royal Challengers Bangalore stand-in captain Virat Kohli (54) didn’t care to mince words to describe his team’s performance in the recently concluded match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium tonight.

Chasing a 201-run target, Bangalore fell short by 21 runs towards the end. Leading from the front, Kohli scored a half-century but the impact of the same was nullified by lack of contributions from the lower middle-order.

A 34-ball 55-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Kohli and Mahipal Lomror (34) did keep Royal Challengers on track to chase what would’ve been their second-highest run-chase but the duo getting out within four balls right after the halfway mark left a lot of work to be done for remaining batters who haven’t really played according to their potential this season.

Virat Kohli Harshly Criticizes RCB After 21-Run Loss to KKR

An honest and unfiltered assessment saw Kohli pointing out RCB players dropping catches, being part of soft dismissals and not indulging themselves in a match-winning partnership as reason for their fourth loss of the season.

“To be honest, we handed them the game. We deserved to lose because we weren’t professional enough on the field. We handed them a victory. We were certainly not up to standard. If you look at the game, we didn’t capitalize our chances. We dropped a few chances which cost us 25-30 runs,” Kohli told host broadcaster Star Sports Network after the match.

One doesn’t have an option than to agree with Kohli taking into consideration the number of straightforward catching opportunities put down by the home team on Wednesday. Not doing their bowlers any favour at a stadium with short boundaries, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that multiple fielding lapses cost the Kohli-led team the most in Indian Premier League 2023 Match 36.

In what was Bangalore’s third loss in sixth outing at their home ground, it means that they will have to do well in their away matches now. Currently at the fifth position on the points table on the back of four wins in eight matches, Royal Challengers are left with five away and one home match in the season.