IPL 2021: "Very happy, especially the way we won" - Virat Kohli reacts after RCB's win over MI
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli was extremely pleased as his team bounced back from two back-to-back defeats to sink Mumbai Indians on Sunday.
Put to bat first, RCB were in trouble early on, losing Devdutt Padikkal in the second over. But Virat Kohli showed some positive intent to take on Jasprit Bumrah, scoring 16 runs in the fourth over to put the defending IPL champions on the backfoot.
Incredible win. Terrific character on display. 💯
Congrats Harshal on the hat-trick 👏 #PlayBold @RCBTweets https://t.co/ptz8MUaQPG
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Speaking after the game, Virat Kohli stressed the importance of stamping their authority from the start against a top team like Mumbai Indians. He stated:
"Very happy and especially the way we won. It was a difficult start with the loss of Devdutt [Padikkal] in the second over. The way Jasprit [Bumrah] bowled that over, totally set the game up for MI. It was important from thereon for us to stamp our presence in the game and take a little bit of risk. I got off to a good start and KS took the pressure off me, Maxi's [Maxwell] innings was unbelievable as well."
Virat Kohli carried on the momentum to bring his second fifty in three matches before Glenn Maxwell took the Mumbai bowlers to the cleaners. He scored 56 off 37 balls to propel the RCB to 165 runs, which in the end proved to be too much for Rohit Sharma & Co.
"What Harshal did was unbelievable" - Virat Kohli
Harshal Patel now has a fifer and a hattrick against MI in the same season. 🔥🔥🔥
The Purple Cap isn’t going anywhere. 😎
#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2021 #RCBvMI https://t.co/YYOj4mEdBy
Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock got Mumbai Indians off to a flying start to add 57 runs for the first wicket before Glenn Maxwell drew first blood. It triggered a collapse for the defending champions as no batters apart from the openers managed to cross the single-digit mark.
Meanwhile, it was Dan Christian's 16th over, where he conceded only 6 runs, that brought RCB back into the game. Speaking about the rationale behind handing the ball to the veteran Aussie all-rounder, Virat Kohli said:
"I had a chat with AB and Maxi, they told me to go with my gut feel. My gut feel said DC is an experienced campaigner, he still has got a slower bouncer in there which could be a wicket-taking option. Chahal was bowling really well but I felt there wasn't enough in the pitch to stop them at that stage. They [Hardik and Pollard] definitely would've gone after Chahal. I went with DC [Christian] - he bowled an amazing over, completely shut the game down and what Harshal did from the other end was unbelievable."
Riding on Harshal Patel, Glenn Maxwell and Yuzvendra Chahal's brilliant performances with the ball, RCB bowled out Mumbai Indians for 111 runs to secure two crucial points in the IPL 2021 Points Table.
Virat Kohli's men play Rajasthan Royals next in Dubai on Wednesday.