IPL 2023: “Deserved To Lose…”: Furious Virat Kohli Lambasts RCB For Gifting ‘Freebie’ Win To KKR

The Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore slumped to a 21-run loss at home at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday. On a flat track, after KKR batters battered RCB bowlers to put up a huge total of 200/5, the hosts’ chase fizzled out as most batters, except Kohli, hardly made any impact. Barring two stands, both involving Kohli, RCB never showed the gumption to fight. Most of the RCB bowlers were costly too while they were poor in fielding too, dropping easy chances. Stand-in RCB skipper Kohli minced no words as he vented out his frustration at the tame loss.

“To be honest we handed over the game to them. We deserved to lose. We weren’t professional enough. We bowled well but fielding was not up to standard. This was a freebie handed over to them,” a furious Kohli said after the game.

“In the field, there was a period of 4-5 overs where we dropped chances, that cost us 25-30 runs. When batting, we set us ourselves up very well, but then there were four to five soft dismissals. Not wicket-taking balls but we hit them straight to the fielders. Even while chasing, after losing wickets, one partnership brought us back in the game. We were one partnership short. We need to stay switched on, and not give away soft plays.

“We have won one and lost one on the road. It is not something that is making us nervous. We need to win some away games to be in good shape for the later stages of the tournament.”

Talking about the game, Kolkata Knight Riders conjured up a spin magic after Jason Roy’s sterling fifty as they snapped their four-match losing streak with a 21-win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL on Wednesday. The English opener led the show with a 29-ball 56 as Kolkata Knight Riders batters fired in unison to notch up a fighting 200/5 after RCB captain Virat Kohli opted to bowl at their home den.

But the spin duo of Varun Chakravarthy (3/24) and rookie Suyash Sharma (2/30) created a top-order mayhem, before Andre Russell (2/29) broke Kohli’s resistance to restrict RCB to 179 for eight.

Leading the side in absence of Faf Du Plessis, Kohli struck a 34-ball 54 and kept their hopes up in the 201-run chase after du Plessis (17) Glenn Maxwell (5) fell cheaply.

But all hell broke loose when Venkatesh Iyer took a game game-changing catch at deep midwicket boundary to dismiss Kohli, off Russell.

He dived to his left and rolled over but held the ball firmly as Kohli walked back in disbelief.