Dubai: Following their six-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore here on Sunday, Punjab Kings captain KL Rahul said his team missed a hitter in the middle order who could have scored quick runs for them.
If I have to be honest, our batting has let us down. I’ll be lying if I say it doesn’t play on my mind that I play a role that the team demands. It’s not something that I enjoy, but when you lead the team, you have to accept the responsibility. In T20, the top two or three do score a bulk of the runs.
You won’t have people in the middle order scoring 500-600 runs. But we have missed someone in the middle who scores those 30-40 quick runs. Shahrukh Khan and some of the other Indian young guys have been going well,” a dejected looking Rahul said after the match.
Chasing 165, Rahul and Mayank Agarwal added 91 runs for the opening stand, until Shahbaz Ahmed dismissed the former. PBKS then kept losing wickets and fell short of the target.
It was a score that was par. Maybe 10-15 runs extra. When a guy like Maxwell comes in with that sort of form, it makes it difficult. But with the bat, the last couple of years have been disappointing, he added.
Glenn Maxwell, Player of the Match, said, ‘Not much has been different, came at a nice time out to bat, took a bit of time to assess the conditions, got away with the first couple of risks that I took and then started off. A bit of clarity, I think I have been clear in my mind over the last couple of seasons in the IPL as well as professional cricket. I have found a nice bit of rhythm. Batting at 4, sometimes it’s not the easiest position to bat – but the openers gave us an ideal set-up, took a bit of time to understand the wicket. This is something I have had with Australia for a long period of time (a clarity in the role), this is perhaps why I have had success over there. Coming into RCB, they wanted me to do the same type of role. Really enjoyable to come into the dressing room and not make too many changes. This (Sharjah) wicket is the toughest to adjust, the ball skidded through, unlike at the other venues where the ball held up and gave you some time to go onto the back-foot. Once you get used to it, the more time you spend, the easier it gets.’
Virat Kohli, RCB captain, said, ‘ It feels amazing (qualification). I don’t think after 2011, we haven’t done it with games to spare, but it’s a great position to be in. Eight wins out of 12 games is a great campaign for the team. Now we have two more opportunities to finish in the top two and that gives the added motivation to play even more fearlessly. The first huddle for any team is qualification. We still have areas to improve so that we work on those areas and get into the top 2. It wasn’t an easy wicket. When you don’t have any wickets on the scoreboard, you can take more risks. Which myself and Paddikal have to. 15-20 runs on this ground can be crucial, we have to plug in those areas. There’s a qualifier and eliminator to be played here. As a side we have had an endeavour to improve, in losses as well as wins. We knew the wicket would get slower and slower, it’s not going to be easy to hit. KL and Mayank batted really well, but we knew we were just two wickets from coming back into the game. Our bowlers came back brilliantly and held their composure brilliantly. Look, the resurgence of Siraj ever since he has succeeded in Test cricket, his body language has been diffierent, that’s what I keep telling guys. You can bowl in any format. Harshal’s inclusion has been outstanding. Yuzi has bowled well and Shahbaz has been great. Garton has come in and made an immediate impact. An IPL campaign is as good as the team plays the way they do. If the players don’t step up, the campaign can move away quickly. This year the guys have taken the ownership and responsibility.’