JOIN USVirat Kohli came down heavily on his bowlers after Royal Challengers Bangalore suffered their fifth straight loss in the IPL, saying the team "deserved" to be where it is after an "unacceptable" outing.
Chasing 206, Kolkata Knight Riders were able to score 66 runs off the last 24 balls to snatch a sensational win against RCB, who are yet to win this season.
"There is no guessing there (about where we lost the game), the last 4 four overs that we bowled was just unacceptable. We needed to be more clever, nothing came off and we just cracked under pressure. That's been our story this season so far," Kohli said after the five-wicket loss Friday night.
Andre Russell smashed an unbeaten 48 off 13 balls to script the memorable win for KKR.
"If you bowl with not enough bravery in the crucial overs, it's always going to be difficult against power-hitters like Russell. If we bowl like that, (and) we don't show composure in pressure moments, we deserve to be where we are in the table," Kohli said.
Talking about his own innings of 84, Kohli said: "I wasn't really happy getting out at that moment, could've got 20-25 more. AB didn't get much strike in the end. I thought the runs were enough on the board, we didn't have enough composure.
"If you can't defend 75 in the last four overs, then I don't know if you can defend 100. We can have a bit of chat about what went wrong, apart from that nothing much you can say. I don't think talking enough helps all the time.
"You have to look at things in hindsight but I thought the runs were enough on the board. If you saw the ball, the way it spun and stuck in the wicket, it wasn't that easy. But we just didn't have composure.
"You need to give the guys some space and come back stronger in the next game. It's been a disappointing season so far, but we are still optimistic about our chances," added Kohli. PTI BS AH AH AH