Ashish Nehra, former Indian pacer heaped praise on Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) after they registered a massive 10-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in match number 16 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021.
A brilliant bowling performance from Mohammed Siraj (3/27) and Harshal Patel (3/47) restricted the Royals to 177 for 9. In reply, RCB chased down the target 27 balls to spare as Devdutt Padikkal slammed his maiden IPL ton (101* off 52 balls) while captain Virat Kohli returned unbeaten on 72.
Ashish Nehra: RCB Should Confirm Their Playoff Qualification And Try To Finish In The Top. 2
This was the fourth win on the trot for RCB and now they are the top-placed team on the points table with 8 points. While speaking to Cricbuzz, Ashish Nehra reckoned that RCB shouldn’t lose the momentum and must aim to finish the league stage among the top two.
“Virat Kohli, as a skipper, never take things lightly. The way they have started their campaign and won four in four, they shouldn’t limit themselves. I remember when I was in Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) and when we went to South Africa in 2009.
“We experimented with a few things towards the end of the league phase as we had already won around 10 out of 12 games. So first, they should confirm their play-off qualification and try to finish in the top 2,” Ashish Nehra told Cricbuzz.
Devdutt Padikkal scored 101 runs and helped RCB chase down RR’s target in just 16.3 overs with ten wickets in hand in an IPL 2021 match. It was an impressive display from the left-hander as he smashed 6 sixes and 11 fours during his entertaining 52-ball unbeaten knock. RCB is one of the teams yet to win IPL.
Ashish Nehra: RCB Couldn’t Have Started Better And Should Keep Valuable Players In Their Core Group
Ashish Nehra opined that the RCB should keep the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Mohammed Siraj, and Washington Sundar in their core team and try to maintain the winning streak.
“RCB couldn’t have got a better start than this. Moreover, they have found several valuable players –other than Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers – in Devdutt Padikkal, Mohammed Siraj, Chahal, and Washington Sundar. They should keep them in their core group.
“And this team has got the potential that we have seen in previous editions. The way they took off this season, let’s hope that they can end the things in a similar way,” he added.
Chasing 178, openers Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli (72 n.o.) made short work of the target. During the course of his knock, Virat Kohli became the first cricketer to cross 6,000 runs in the IPL. In IPL 2021, apart from Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell have also scored above 120 runs. Glenn Maxwell in fact is the 2nd highest run-scorer with 176 runs in IPL 2021 so far.
On the other hand, Harshal Patel is the leading wicket-taker with 12 scalps while Kyle Jamieson (6) and Mohammed Siraj(5) have also been among wickets. Bengal spinner Shahbaz Ahmed has the best bowling average of 7.