Royal Challengers Bangalore batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels the likes of Virat Kohli and skipper Faf du Plessis could have exercised some restraint against Kolkata Knight Riders spinners in their big chase of 205. Sunil Narine triggered the collapse after an in-form Kohli played across the line, while du Plessis got an inside edge going for a big drive as RCB lost wickets at regular intervals to lose the game by a massive 81-run margin here on Thursday night.
"I felt some of our batters, in hindsight, could have not attempted those big shots. That is something we will discuss with the players. T20 itself is a short format where you can lose momentum," Bangar said at the post-match press conference.
RCB's star opening duo of Kohli (21) and du Plessis (23) provided a flying start yet again, reaching 44 for no loss in 28 balls before all hell broke loose. "Basically a lot of our batters were beaten on the inside edge. That's something you don't tend to do against bowlers who don't turn the ball that much. Probably that was an error that they did under pressure and for us to work upon going forward," Bangar observed.
KKR spin trio of Narine (2/16), Varun Chakravarthy (4/15) and debutant Suyash Sharma (3/30) accounted for nine wickets between them. Bangar said the key to tackle Narine and Chakravarthy was to play forward. "You must try and play as forward as possible. If you play even a little bit squarer it can be risky. Playing straight therefore is very important. We did that last time when we had a 150-run stand for the first wicket. We can learn from this," he said.
{{/usCountry}}KKR spin trio of Narine (2/16), Varun Chakravarthy (4/15) and debutant Suyash Sharma (3/30) accounted for nine wickets between them. Bangar said the key to tackle Narine and Chakravarthy was to play forward. "You must try and play as forward as possible. If you play even a little bit squarer it can be risky. Playing straight therefore is very important. We did that last time when we had a 150-run stand for the first wicket. We can learn from this," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Asked whether Narine and Chakravarthy were the most difficult spinners in the IPL, Bangar said: "I don't think so. Other teams too have good spinners. They are very good bowlers no doubt but there is also Yuzvendra Chahal, (Ravichandran) Ashwin. Karn Sharma bowled well for us. Quality of leg spinners is good and that's why this is such an exciting format. I must credit Shardul Thakur for the kind of innings he played that kept us on the backfoot."
Bangar doesn't think their decision to bowl first backfired. "I don't think so because this is a good chasing ground. Yes, the wicket was little bit two-paced but right till the end, batters were able to play their shots. It's about keeping wickets in hand when you are chasing a score of over 200. We started well but they pegged the game really well, especially when Varun and Sunil came and applied pressure," he said.
"We were outplayed in all departments of the game. We took couple of wickets with the new ball and in the middle but the way Shardul (68) and Rinku Singh (46) batted, I felt that they took the game away from us. Then obviously nothing clicked for us with the bat."