Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore crashed out of IPL 2020 after losing by six wickets to David Warner’s Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator clash.
Yet another IPL season, yet more heartbreak for Virat Kohli and Royal Challengers Bangalore. After starting off positively in IPL 2020, Royal Challengers Bangalore lost three consecutive games heading into the knock-out stages of the tournament. In the Eliminator clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sheikh Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi, Royal Challengers Bangalore were restricted to 131/7 thanks to some brilliant bowling from Jason Holder and T Natarajan. In response, Kane Williamson smashed a magnificent fifty and shared a match-winning partnership of 65 with Jason Holder as Sunrisers Hyderabad progressed to Qualifier 2 to face Delhi Capitals.
Sunrisers Hyderabad once again proved to be the bogey team of Royal Challengers Bangalore as they won in the knockouts yet again, having beaten Virat Kohli’s team in the IPL 2016 final. Speaking after the end of the match, Virat Kohli outlined the factors behind the team’s loss, stating that the team was not so expressive with the bat.
“If you talk about the first innings I don't think we had enough runs on the board. We made one helluva game in the second half, the positions we got ourselves into in the second half.. It is a game of margins. Few soft dismissals, few fortunate ones for them as well and we just didn't have enough runs on the board. Maybe a bit of nerves, maybe a bit of hesitation, we need to be more expressive with the bat. We didn't have any phases in the game where we got away from the opposition,” Kohli said.
Hard luck in last three games
Royal Challengers Bangalore were one game away from sealing a spot in the playoffs but their downward spiral began when they lost to Chennai Super Kings. From that point on, it was difficult to regain the momentum in a closely-fought playoff race, losing to Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the league stages. Kohli said this particular phase was perplexing.
“We just allowed bowlers to bowl to the areas they wanted to and didn't put enough pressure on them. In the last 2-3 games we have hit it straight to the fielders, lot of good shots going to the fielders. It has been a strange kind of phase in the last 4-5 games,” Kohli said.
However, there were some good performances from certain players in the Royal Challengers Bangalore side. Devdutt Padikkal scored 472 runs which is the most by an uncapped player on debut in the IPL while Yuzvendra Chahal was the leading wicket-taker for RCB in IPL 2020. Mohammed Siraj created history by bowling two maidens in a game against Kolkata Knight Riders while AB de Villiers was his brilliant self. Virat Kohli was sad that others could not contribute enough
“Yuzi has been solid as ever, AB has been solid as ever. Couple of positives for RCB and Devdutt is one of them, he stepped up nicely and getting 400+ runs is not easy. He has played with a lot of class and efficiency for the team. Very happy for him. The others contributed but just not enough. There's a bigger picture going around here and we are all contributing to that,” Virat Kohli said.
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