IPL 2023: Virat Kohli after RCB’s loss versus KKR – ‘We were not professional enough on the field’

Stand-in captain Virat Kohli rued the team’s performance levels on the field after the Kolkata Knight Riders did the double over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their second Indian Premier League meeting of the season on Wednesday, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

Earlier this month, KKR beat RCB by 81 runs at the Eden Gardens, and then picked up a 21-run win over the Virat Kohli-led outfit on Wednesday.

Kohli had won the toss and elected to bowl first, keeping in mind the form of pacers Mohammed Siraj and David Willey in the power-play overs. However, neither could get a break in the first six overs. Powered by Jason Roy’s 56 off 29 and skipper Nitesh Rana’s quickfire 48 off 21, KKR scored 200/5 at the end of their 20 overs.

In response, RCB was restricted to 179/8, with Varun Chakravarthy – the pick of the bowlers – finishing with figures of 3/27.

Kohli however was not pleased at the way his side handled a few crunch situations in the match.

“We handed them over the game. We deserved to lose because we were not professional enough on the field,” said the 34-year-old.

“The bowlers hit decent areas, but we didn’t hold on to our chances. That’s what you call a freebie in T20 cricket, and we literally handed them a victory there which is not ideal. We take pride in the way we play and tonight we were not up to standard and we’re certainly not too shy to admit (it).”

Kohli managed to score his fifth half-century of the season with a 37-ball 54, but apart for Mahipal Lomror (34 off 18) and Dinesh Karthik’s 22 off 18, no other RCB batter got to the 20s.

“I’m talking about a few instances where we didn’t capitalise in the crunch moments. In the field, there was a period of four-five overs where we dropped chances. And that cost us 25-30 runs at the end,” he said.

“With the bat as well, we set ourselves up very well. Then so many soft dismissals. Balls which are not wicket-taking balls, but we ended up hitting (it straight to the) fielder. These are some of the soft plays in cricket which you want to avoid in a team. But if you do six-seven of those in one night, obviously you’re going to be on the losing side.”

Competing at a venue known to be a batting haven, the hosts managed to hit just seven sixes compared to the 12 scored by KKR. Asked whether there is pressure to get shots over the ropes at the stadium, Kohli was adamant that it wasn’t the case.

“We don’t think about all these things (pressure of hitting sixes). For us, it’s about what’s on the scoreboard and how we need to get there. Be it boundaries or crossing the boundary rope, it doesn’t matter,” he said.

“We try to work on our game and try to apply that in the situation for the team. Even while chasing, even after losing wickets, I thought one partnership really brought us back into the game. We were just another partnership away from chasing that down.

“We just need to identify the things that did not go well tonight and just work on those. We’re playing some really good cricket, we know that. We just need to be absolutely switched on and not give away soft plays. If we tighten those screws, we know what we’ve done in the previous games and we know what we can achieve as a team. So our focus is on that.”

RCB is currently fifth on the table with eight points after winning four and losing just as many from their eight matches. KKR meanwhile is in seventh spot with three wins and five losses to account for their six points.

Kohli and Co next take a trip to Ekana Cricket Ground to play the Lucknow Super Giants on May 1, while KKR plays defending champions Gujarat Titans at the Eden Gardens on April 29. RCB play their next five matches on the trot away and it could be a blessing in disguise as home has not always meant comfort for them.