Virat Kohli discloses game-changing moment: Royal Challengers captain sounded delighted after winning another IPL 2019 match.
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Having led Royal Challengers Bangalore to their fourth IPL 2019 victory, captain Virat Kohli was vocal about winning their third consecutive match. Speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, Kohli reflected on RCB’s comeback in the tournament.
“Yeah, we’ve won four of the five. Could have been five out of five. We were just looking to enjoy the cricket and tonight was a great example of having fun,” Kohli was quoted as saying.
Virat Kohli discloses game-changing moment
Having lost three wickets for 10 runs after the powerplay, Royal Challengers appeared as struggling in the middle overs. However, it was a 121-run partnership for the fifth wicket between AB de Villiers and Marcus Stoinis which powered them to 202/4 in 20 overs.
“The game-changing partnership was Marcus [Stoinis] and AB [de Villiers]. They brought us to 200 which looked highly unlikely. We thought 175 would have been good,” Kohli said on the efforts of his two overseas cricketers.
“With the two left-handers [David Miller and Nicholas Pooran] they had. Moeen [Ali] and Washi [Washington Sundar] bowled really well and having six-seven bowling options really help,” Kohli opened up on his ploy of introducing two off-spinners against two left-handed overseas batsmen to create pressure in the middle overs.
“The only focus was to play well as a team”
The only possible (not guaranteed) way for Royal Challengers to qualify for the playoffs is by winning all their remaining three matches with considerable margins. Being asked about their inspired performance post losing the first six matches, RCB skipper laid emphasis on “enjoying” the game.
“The only focus was to play well as a team. Losing six in a row really hurt us. Literally no one in the team has been part of such a streak. So we just refreshed [before match at Mohali], thought about just enjoying ourselves and the important thing now is not to take on any pressure. We know how we play. The world knows how we play,” Kohli concluded.
