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IPL 2020: RCB head coach Simon Katich explains what posed as a ‘challenge’ for Virat Kohli in UAE
IPL 2020: RCB head coach Simon Katich has come out to defend Virat Kohli, and said that there were other factors around the RCB skipper that affected his performance.
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli was not at his best in the 13th edition of Indian Premier League 2020 in the UAE. Even though the right-handed batsman scored 466 runs in 15 matches, and Kohli was the 2nd highest run-getter for RCB this season, his strike rate of 121.35 was pointed out as one of the factors that affected RCB’s performance in the middle overs.
But RCB head coach Simon Katich has come out to defend Kohli, and said that there were other factors around the RCB skipper that affected his performance. (IPL 2020 Full Coverage)
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“Look, from the batting perspective, we did have consistent opening partnerships between Finch and Padikkal even though Finch not getting the volume of runs that he would have hoped for, we actually did get solid opening partnerships. That’s an area of concern we wanted to address,” Katich said at the post-match presentation ceremony after RCB lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 6 wickets in the Eliminator to be eliminated from the tournament.
“We got that, as a by product of that, Virat came into bat after the powerplay which is never an easy time to start your innings, particularly in the UAE, particularly late in the tournament with the pitches getting slower. That was a challenge for him,” Katich said.
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“We saw the class of Virat in the game against Chennai. But a number of times, the game situation did not help where he looked like he was well on top of the bowling but we would lose wickets at the crucial time and that would sort of slow his progress,” he added.
“You cannot judge him purely by the numbers. There were a number of games where he looked right at ease but unfortunately we got stalled at times,” Katich said.
Meanwhile, SRH will play against Delhi Capitals on Sunday in the 2nd Qualifier to determine who will face the Mumbai Indians in the final on Tuesday.
