Batting icon Virat Kohli credited young batter Devdutt Padikkal‘s quintessential knock after Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Gujarat Titans in a high-scoring thriller at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday. Kohli, who was dropped on 0 by Washington Sundar, pulled one of his vintage knocks out of the hat, scoring 81 off just 44 balls to anchor RCB’s 206-run chase in their final game at the venue this season. Despite bagging the ‘Man of the Match’ award, Kohli attributed the win to Padikkal’s knock of 55 (27), highlighting that the southpaw took the sting out of the chase with his nonchalant stroke-making.
“To be honest, we had to assess the wicket early on because they have a quality bowling attack and chasing 200 in the Chinnaswamy, we were just one partnership away. This is the second time Dev has come and done this. You never see him slogging the ball yet he’s playing so freely. His innings was the difference in the first half and then I was trying to stay in the game so he won’t feel the pressure. Even in our bowling innings, we did well to pull things back. We were looking at 230-235 at one stage,” said Kohli after the match
Kohli also admitted that the pitch – by far the best for batting at the venue this season – made it easier for him and Padikkal to maintain a brisk scoring rate, allowing them to take the game away from the visitors.
“The feedback was the pitch was not bad at all. Best batting conditions we’ve had this season. So if we stayed in the game long enough it would get tougher and tougher for bowlers. Dev was going great guns and the idea was to keep the pressure on the bowlers. There was intent, clarity and feedback from the other and and we didn’t have any doubts in the partnership and that’s what worked for us,” he added.
Speaking on the team’s mini-collapse after his dismissal, Kohli remained bullish about RCB’s batting depth, praising the lower middle-order comprising of the likes Tim David, Krunal Pandya and Romario Shepherd.
“The body language comes from a belief in your abilities and we have a tremendous batting lineup. If you look at the talent on display, we have guys who can play good cricket shots, you have the power of Tim David and Shepherd and then you have the smarts of Krunal. So the message is simple – you see a ball to hit, go for it because you have the depth. Firstly, we were quite happy we were able to play five games here and the fans get to see the team again. Special place to play cricket and hopefully we’ll be able to come back and play here again later in the season,” said Kohli.
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