Royal Challengers Bangalore Skipper, Virat Kohli:
I do not have the words to describe this at the moment. It was a roller coaster of play. I think we hit very well in the first innings, to go over 200. The start with the ball was also very good, but I think they played a very good game and very patient in the intermissions. They waited for the dew to come in, and with that power at the rear, with Pollard and Hardik and Ishan it was outstanding.
It really went to the end, we tried to execute the things we wanted. Again, the field is something we have to keep working on, because those dropped catches can be expensive. If we had taken a chance tonight, maybe it wouldn’t have been so close. We have a close victory, we have to focus on the little things.
I thought a lot about the super. I knew Jasprit was going to use the longest limit, so I thought, ‘who can run the first four balls for two?’ And I knew it had to be AB and me. AB said ‘I’m going’, and I said, ‘I’m going with you.’ It was about getting out there and taking responsibility for the team. We got a cap each and got the job done.
It was interesting to face Bumrah. It was a good matchup, he’s the best pitcher they had and he was also under a bit of pressure to defend eight. It was a good contest. This is what people love to watch, this is what this competition is all about: high quality cricket. However, it’s a little more stressful if you’re captaining it!
I think the changes we made, like making Washington bolt in the power game, paid off. Isuru also did quite well. To be honest, these changes have us a bit of balance. I think Zampa was okay too, aside from the last time Pollard went after him. The guys showed good character, they were positive during innings, and when you play against such good teams, sometimes they can hurt you.
Super exceptional from Saini, bowling against Hardik and Pollard. The longer limit gave him some confidence for the yorker. I think everyone showed very good composure to get these two points on the bag. Good to have them at the beginning of the tournament.
It’s a good start to the tournament, quite different from previous years, right? It feels good, this should give us a good boost and help us close the gap and be more professional.
