Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opener Virat Kohli had two early reprieves in the powerplay overs. While Kohli reached his half-century from 32 balls, which looked typical of him, he broke the shackles in the middle overs. There has been criticism around his strike rate in the middle overs. He played a few magnificent shots to push the scoring rate and his 47-ball 92 helped RCB set a threatening target of 242 for Punjab Kings (PBKS). While Kohli took a sly dig at his critics during the innings break, he accepted that he needs to make risks for the good of the team in the post-match presentation.
“Still quality over quantity. More so at this stage of my career. Understanding your game over so many years allows you to practise but still stay switched on. And still aiming to improve aspects of your game that you want to get batter on. I brought out the slog-sweep to the spinners. I know I can hit it as I've done it in the past. I know I need to take risks. Takes more conviction and to remove the thought 'what if I get out?' Means I can improve my strike rate in the middle overs,” Kohli said.
Kohli admits RCB ‘were not good enough’
This was RCB's fifth win from 12 games. They are still alive in the playoff race but their hopes hang by a thread as a lot of permutation and combinations are involved. Kohli said that now the team is not looking at the points table and playing for self respect. Also, he wants his teammates to put up a better show for the fans.
“Have to be honest, we were not good enough in the first half of the tournament. We got to a point where we said don't look at the table, play for self-respect. Make yourselves proud and the fans. We need to raise our level. If we had done so earlier we would be in a position needing to rely on so many factors," he added.
After the convincing 60-run win, RCB will take on Delhi Capitals (DC) in their next clash at home on May 12. Their last league stage game will be against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on May 18. They need to win both games to have a chance to finish in last four.
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