Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli was all praise for Harshal Patel and AB de Villiers after clinching a thrilling win over defending champions Mumbai Indians in the 2021 Indian Premier League opener on Friday.
Harshal Patel picked a five-for and AB de Villiers produced another batting masterclass as RCB pipped Mumbai Indians by two wickets in a last-ball thriller.
Patel’s 5/27 was the reason RCB were able to restrict MI to 159/9 in the IPL opener, which is something that even losing captain Rohit Shama admitted.
“We brought Harshal in a trade from Delhi. He is relishing the responsibility and is clear with his plans. He was the difference today. He is going to be our death bowler. As a captain you want players with clarity, and he has that,” Kohli said at the post-match press conference.
About AB de Villiers’ 48 off 27 balls, Kohli said that the South African still intimidates the opposition.
“The opposition gets nervous about AB. We have depth in the batting which we want to utilize. AB is probably the only one in the team who is so versatile. And he does it on slow wickets what not many can do.”
The MI captain was all praise for de Villiers. “De Villiers batted really well and got them home. We haven’t had much time together as a group and it was totally opposite in Dubai, where we began preparations a month before,” Rohit said.
‘Peerless’, ‘genius’: Reactions to AB de Villiers’ brilliant knock against MI in IPL 2021 opener
The MI captain said he wouldn’t mind losing another opening game as long as his team goes on to win the tournament, but admitted that they were 20 runs short.
“Winning the championship is important, I guess, not the first game. It was a great fight and we didn’t let it go easily. Although the score wasn’t something we were happy with. We were 20 short,” Rohit said after his team’s ninth opening round loss.
“We made some mistakes, those are bound to happen. We need to move on. When you look at the situation with four overs left they had AB and Christian, that’s why we went with Bumrah and Boult to try and get them out.
“Definitely not an easy pitch to bat on, the odd ball was gripping,” he said.
“... But that’s how the IPL has been played over the years, you just got to get in the game as quickly as possible. It can be difficult for teams that have great home records, but that is what sport is, you’ve got to go away and win. We are fortunate that we’re even on the park.”
De Villiers, whose exploits won the game for RCB, was also very pleased with his effort.
“It was an incredible game of cricket, always seems to be against Mumbai. We obviously came in knowing it wasn’t going to be easy. I knew halfway it was going to get tough, it’s one of those pitches that gets harder as the game goes on,” de Villiers said.
With PTI Inputs
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