Royal Challengers Bangalore’s encounter in the Indian Premier League against Kings XI Punjab on Thursday went right down to the last ball. In the end, it took a six off Nichols Pooran’s bat to win the game for Punjab as they chased down the total of 172 in 20 overs. RCB had elected to bat earlier after winning the toss, but there was an unexpected change in the batting order that raised some eyebrows.
The hero of RCB’s innings against KKR AB de Villiers was pushed down the batting order to bat at no. 6. below Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube. De Villiers could not put on his best getting out on 2 after facing 5 balls.
After the match, Kohli was questioned about the decision to send De Villiers lower down the batting order. In his response, the RCB captain said that it was a decision that he took which did not pay off.
“We had a chat, it (AB batting at no. 6) was a message about the left-hand, right-hand combination. Sometimes these decisions you take, don’t come off. But I think 170 was a decent score,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
The RCB captain further said that the message to Sundar and Dube was to go after the bowling attack and hit big shots. “That’s the idea, get your eye in and start hitting. But we were not able to put them under pressure. We take a lot of pride as a bowling side, but tonight was one of those nights, as it didn’t come off,” Kohli said.
Speaking on the defeat, RCB skipper Kohli said: “A few positives from the game. There was no conversation between Yuzi (Chahal) and me to be honest. Things became interesting to be honest. They kind of let us come back in the game, because I think it should have ended by the 18th over.“
