RCB vs MI Harshal Made the Difference: Virat Kohli

RCB vs MI Harshal Made the Difference: Virat Kohli

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli was all praise for Harshal Patel’s winning bowling performance in Chennai on Friday, calling him his designated death bowler in this edition of the IPL.

Harshal’s 5 of 27 was the reason RCB was able to restrict IM to 159 of nine in the first IPL match, which is something even losing captain Rohit Sharma admitted.

“We brought Harshal on an exchange from Delhi. Enjoy responsibility and have your plans clear. He was the difference today. He’s going to be our death thrower. As captain, you want players with clarity, and he has it, ”Kohli said at the post-match press conference.

On 48 of Villiers’ 27 balls, Kohli said the South African still intimidates the opposition.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after Friday’s opening thriller. (BCCI / IPL)

“The opposition is nervous about AB. We have depth in hitting that we want to use. AB is probably the only one on the team that is so versatile. And he does it on slow terrain, which not many can do. ”

MI captain Rohit wouldn’t mind losing another opening game as long as his team wins the tournament, but admitted they were 20 runs short.

“Winning the championship is important, I guess, not the first game. It was a great fight and we didn’t let it go easily. The scoring wasn’t something we’re happy with though. We were 20 to go, ”Rohit said after his team’s opening ninth-round loss.

“We made some mistakes, they are likely to happen. We need to move forward. When you look at the situation with four overs remaining, they had AB and Christian, so we went to Bumrah and Boult to try to get them out.

“It’s definitely not an easy pitch to hit, the weird ball was catching,” he said. The IM captain was a compliment to De Villiers.

“De Villiers hit very well and took them home. We haven’t had much time together as a group and it was totally the opposite in Dubai, where we started preparations a month earlier, ”said Rohit.

The IM captain did not want to make excuses for the defeat.

“… But this is how the IPL has been played over the years, you just have to get into the game as quickly as possible. It can be difficult for teams that have great records at home, but that’s the sport, you have to go and win. We are lucky to even be in the park. ”

De Villiers, whose exploits won the game for RCB, was also very pleased with his effort.

“It was an incredible cricket game, it always seems to be against Mumbai. Obviously, we arrived knowing that it was not going to be easy. I knew halfway through it was going to get tough, it’s one of those pitches that gets harder as the game goes on, ”de Villiers said.