Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli (Credits: Twitter)

Mike Hesson said that his team RCB’s pathetic performance against KKR was not impacted by skipper Virat Kohli’s announcement to step down as captain after the ongoing season. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Director of Cricket and head coach Mike Hesson refused to blame Virat Kohli’s announcement to step down as captain after the ongoing season for his team’s absurd performance against KKR in Abu Dhabi on Monday where they managed to score only 92 before being dismissed and KKR won by 9 wickets with 60 balls to spare.

Virat Kohli's announcement to leave captaincy did not impact RCB's performance vs KKR: Mike Hesson (Courtesy by BCCI)
Virat Kohli’s announcement to leave captaincy did not impact RCB’s performance vs KKR: Mike Hesson (Courtesy by BCCI)

Mike Hesson Admits RCB Got The Toss Wrong And RCB Should Have Been Able To Score 150

Virat Kohli had made it clear that he will continue playing for his franchise- the Royal Challengers Bangalore but won’t be captaining the franchise beyond the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season. Mike Hesson opened up on the humiliating 9-wicket defeat against KKR, saying RCB had a poor outing with the bat but he was confident that his team would turn around things very quickly.

RCB won the toss and opted to bat in Virat Kohli’s landmark match in IPL-his 200th match for RCB, but the former finalists failed to step up, managing a paltry 92 in 19 overs. It was the 6th lowest total for RCB in the history of the IPL and their 7th sub-100 total in the tournament.

“I think it was actually to get any form of distraction out early. We talked about making that announcement as soon as possible really, all the players were aware of it. It has not impacted performance against KKR, we were not sharp with the bat, we lost wickets. But I am confident that this group will turn around pretty quickly,” Mike Hesson said during a virtual post-match press conference.

Mike Hesson will look to take RCB to the IPL Trophy | RCB
Mike Hesson will look to take RCB to the IPL Trophy | RCB

“The team combination was not the problem today. To be fair, we probably got the toss wrong. It was not a 93-run wicket, we should have been able to get to 150. Whether that would have been enough or not, it is debatable because the ball started to slide down, but we were not sharp enough with the bat,” Mike Hesson added.

Then, the opening duo of KKR- Shubman Gill and debutant Venkatesh Iyer played some breathtaking shots and made light work of the chase of 93, completing the formality with as many as 10 overs to spare.

Mike Hesson: AB de Villiers Is An Important Player But KS Bharat Deserves His Inclusion

In KKR’s opening match in the UAE leg, Varun Chakravarthy took the crucial wickets of Glenn Maxwell, Sachin Baby, and Wanindu Hasaranga. The mystery spinner showed ample proof of his credentials while registering figures of 3/13. Meanwhile, Andre Russell also registered three dismissals including that of AB de Villiers and Lockie Ferguson bagged two wickets.

“AB de Villiers did not have the gloves, we have to look after him. He is an important player for us, he is not one we can risk behind the stumps so that was unfortunate for Rajat as we needed a keeper-bat to do the role for us at number three. To be fair, KS Bharat has been outstanding in the camp and he deserves his inclusion,” he further said.

AB de Villiers had no answer to Andre Russell's fast yorker (Twitter)
AB de Villiers had no answer to Andre Russell’s fast yorker. (Twitter)

“We were pretty clear in terms of Virat batting at the top, it is a lot harder to start against spin. We are very happy with Devdutt Padikkal and Virat opening the batting for us, high-quality players, left-right combination and KS Bharat can bat anywhere. We were forced for that change with AB de Villiers not keeping,” Hesson signed off.

After RCB skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat, things did not exactly go as per plan as KKR had RCB at 52/4 in nine overs. Captain Virat Kohli was dismissed for 5 after getting out LBW to Prasidh Krishna, while Devdutt Padikkal gloved Lockie Ferguson to Dinesh Karthik, and debutant KS Bharat was out caught in the deep.

After getting KS Bharat out for 16, Andre Russell grew in confidence and bowled a spectacular – gem of delivery – to dismiss Mr. 360 degree AB de Villiers for a golden duck. This is AB de Villiers’s 6th golden duck in the IPL to go with 10 overall ducks.