“It’s a very sweet win. Feels special for many reasons, most importantly for the kind of character we showed defending that total”- Virat Kohli during dressing room celebration
The RCB official social media handles posted a video where the Bangalore side can be seen celebrating the win in their dressing room. Terming the win as ‘sweet and special’, Kohli who was involved in a heated exchange with LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir after the match, said, “If you can give it, you gotta take it.”
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“It was a really important win on the road for us. The fact that we got more support from the home crowd. It’s an unbelievable feeling. It tells you all about how much they like us as a team and how people come out and back us,” he said.
Royal Challengers Bangalore read a slow pitch perfectly and successfully defended 126 runs against Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League on Monday. Bangalore’s 126-9 looked under par at the halfway mark, but Lucknow’s counter-charge didn’t work on a tricky home track and it was bowled out for 108 in the final over.
“It’s a very sweet win. Feels special for many reasons, most importantly for the kind of character we showed defending that total. Everyone had the belief we can do that,” he added.
While RCB skipper Faf du Plessing on Kohli’s on-field aggression said, “That’s the best version of Virat. He’s pumped up. My job is to keep things calm.”
“I guess after the last match at the Chinnaswamy, where we lost off the last ball, it always felt like we were really desperate to get this one. So I think you probably saw a little bit of that boil over tonight,” he said.
Du Plessis, who top-scored with 44, and Kohli, with 31, combined in a 62-run opening stand. On his partnership with Virat, Faf said, “The plan was to take on the seamers because it was a hard work against the spinners. It was a tough wicket. We had to adapt, that was really important. Coming from Chinnaswamy where a different style of playing there. The role for me to take the innings to the deep because we were losing wickets.”
Meanwhile RCB bowlers including fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, with 2-15, also made an early impact in his first game of the season, and the spinners took over. Legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga had Deepak Hooda stumped and Karn Sharma got rid of dangerman Nicholas Pooran for 9 as Lucknow slumped to 5-38 in seven overs.
Karan Sharma said, “It’s a good feeling as this was the ground where I got my first 10-wicket haul during Duleep Trophy. Despite a small total, we defended it so I am very proud of the team and myself.”
First published on: 02-05-2023 at 10:18 IST
