Virat Kohli accuses SRH of taking things lightly after dismissing him and AB de Villiers

Virat Kohli accuses SRH of taking things lightly: Royal Challengers captain opened up on winning last league match vs Sunrisers.

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli sounded contended by his team’s performance in the second half of the tournament. After beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 4 wickets in their last match at home, Kohli admitted that reaching the playoffs after losing first six matches was going to be “very difficult”.

“If we focus on the second half, it is exactly what we wanted in the first half. After losing your first six matches, it is very difficult to comeback in a tournament like IPL. We have a lot to learn from this season. The first couple of things matters a lot in setting the intensity,” Kohli was quoted as saying.

Virat Kohli accuses SRH of taking things lightly

With four wins and 11 points from 14 matches, Royal Challengers are currently at No. 7 in the points table. If Chennai Super Kings defeat Kolkata Knight Riders at Mohali today, RCB will finish the season above Kings XI. Expressing happiness on turning things around, Kohli then lauded his players.

“We are happy with the way guys have turned things around and the kind of cricket that we have played in the second half. A lot of credit goes to the team management for getting us back in the right frame of mind. We haven’t finished in the position that we wanted to.

“But because the second half has been so good it doesn’t feel like a bad season. We won last 6 off our 7 matches and it is something that we can be proud of. It is such a short format that often 5 or 7 minutes decide the outcome. We can be proud of the boys effort in the final few matches,” Kohli said.

“Hetmyer and Gurkeerat played really well”

Talking about the match, Kohli hailed the match-winning 144-run partnership between Shimron Hetmyer and Gurkeerat Singh Mann. The RCB skipper unveiled his conversation with senior batsman AB de Villiers after both of them got out.

“When me and ABD [AB de Villiers] got out, I think the opposition took it lightly. We spoke upstairs that time for someone else to show up. Both [Shimron] Hetmyer and Gurkeerat [Mann] played really well. We know Hetmyer can play like that. And Gurkeerat played a really mature innings,” Kohli added.