It was a delight for the fans to see Virat Kohli getting back to the groove, as his side, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), rode to a convincing eight-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Saturday. Meanwhile, Kohli scored an unbeaten 72 that played a focal role in RCB's win.
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The win allowed RCB to reach the second spot in the table. It was also their third win in four matches, while their only loss so far has come against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). Following the win, Kohli made an interesting revelation, as he stated that he both loved and hated the game. He also termed the game as amazing, as well as funny.
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"It's a funny game you know. It's an amazing game. I was telling Jos when I was batting in there, 'I love this game and I hate it too'. It's something that you need to understand as a player. When you play so much of cricket, you do feel like at times you're not in control of what you want to do," he told Star Sports post match.
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"But, more than that, you feel disappointed when the team's not doing well. But, when the team's doing well, you feel like 'Okay I've got some more space to figure out how I want to go about applying my kind of batting for the benefit of the team.'" he added.
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Nonetheless, Kohli warned his side of getting relaxed, as he asserted that falling back in a tournament like IPL is just a matter of a couple of matches. "This tournament, we understand that it can get away from you very quickly. In the past, we've experienced that. When you start losing initially, the games start going past very quickly and suddenly, you realise that you're seven or eight games into the tournament and you have no points," he continued.
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"And, when you start well it's important to continue that momentum. So yes, we will look to do that. Simply follow the process that we have in place and keep backing ourselves to go out there, and execute the plans that we have," Kohli further noted.
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Meanwhile, Kohli also expressed his deepest satisfaction of Devdutt Padikkal, who has been playing some fine cricket of late. He is currently RCB's highest run-scorer, having scored 174 runs in four innings at an average of 43.50, including three half-centuries.
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"I saw him play and I told Simon [Katich]... I was like, 'This guy's got some serious talent'. Because he's got reach and he's got a great eye, great balance. His head's very still. And, a left-hander... it's very difficult for the bowlers to continue bowling the same lines and lengths when a leftie is in," Kohli recorded.
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"And, the way he bats, it's very, very clean shots. You don't feel like he's taking a risk as such. That kind of feeling you hardly get with batsmen that come at this level, when they haven't played so much. I just kept talking to him about building innings. If he can bat long for the team, it's going to benefit us more often than not. He's a smart guy, he understands the game well and he responds to feedback very well," he concluded.
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