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Defeat against KKR still hurts, says Kohli

Last Updated 03 May 2014, 17:47 IST

Batting failures have largely been responsible for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s three consecutive losses and skipper Virat Kohli said the defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders hurt the team most.

“The one we lost in the last over against Kolkata hurt the most, to be honest out of those three losses,” said Kohli on Saturday. RCB needed 25 from three overs with seven wickets in hand but still managed to lose the match by two runs. “The other two games (against Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab) we didn’t play good cricket; so we didn’t deserve to win it, to be honest. But that game (Kolkata) we played good cricket for 37 overs and just three overs we faltered and in a way we lost the game. I think it hurt not just me but everyone.


“Those other two games, (it) happens in a tournament like this. We know we rather play our worst cricket right now rather than like last year. We won five games out of 6 and we didn’t even qualify for the top-four play-off. So we rather rectify all our mistakes and it’s good as a wake-up call that we know our strengths and weaknesses. We played good cricket in Dubai but it could have been better if we had won that third game also. Overall it would have been good if there were three wins and two losses,” he explained.

Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody played down lack of runs from skipper Shikhar Dhawan. The southpaw hasn’t even aggregated 100 from five innings. “Shikhar, along with a number of big Indian players, haven’t quite hit their straps,” said Moody. “He will be the first to put his hand up saying that he hasn’t quite hit that big score yet. But what I am finding important in his preparation is that no one works harder than Shikhar on his game.”

Moody also praised Karnataka’s KL Rahul. “KL is an exciting young prospect. There is a reason that we have given him an opportunity at the top of the order and that’s because we back him. We think he is a good enough player to bat at No 3 or No 4. And he has shown throughout from the start of the tournament that he has got the skills and the temperament and I just think he is going to get better and better.”

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(Published 03 May 2014, 17:47 IST)

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