Virat Kohli appreciated by Kumble
No IPL side had ever made it to the knock out stages of the ACL T20 and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Anil-Kumble-c44737’s men needed to come up with something extraordinary. Bangalore had a lot riding coming into the virtual quarter-final at the wanderers against Highveld Lions. All the players
gave an exceptional performance, while http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virat-Kohli-c95424 sealed the deal for the Indian side.
The skipper revealed why he managed to stay unruffled even as the hunt became trickier in the final moment. Kumble appeared calm as he was in the dug-out during the run-chase.
The first wicket added 60 runs that laid to a solid foundation for the entire team. Even though they faltered in the middle, they knew in their hearts that with Virat in the middle they still had a chance. Anil Kumble could not stop praising Virat Kohli.
He patted the youngster on his back for his accurate spell in the middle, where Kohli conceded 24 runs of 3 overs. Kohli did not disappoint his team and cracked an unbeaten 49 off balls to steer Bangalore home with one over to spare. The tap on the back turned
out to be turning point as Bangalore restricted the lions even in the face of a major assault from Alviro Petersen.
Kumble said that once he had restricted the Lions for 160 he knew that they had the upper hand. Their combined magic was critical in restricting the lions to 160.
The former Indian leg spinner admitted that he was disappointed with his performance two nights back. He was the most economical bowler in the tournament before being taken apart by the Mumbai Indians in Durban. He said that he was upset with his http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820
game but he was happy that he had the ability to put the brakes on the Lions and get Petersen when he had started to look dangerous.
Kumble said that his team had no additional pressure going into the last four stages in the same country where they had stumbled at the final of the IPL two years back. So what if the ACL T20 meant the journey of the Champion of Champions!
Kumble said that if he assumes that the T20 matches are only for the Champions from all across the world then he will only be inviting pressure on himself. It is better to take one game at a time and not pressurize the players.
On the teams arrival to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 their main aim was to qualify for the last four, which they did. Now all they need to do is play the same way for the rest of the tournament.
The RCB have come a long way, undoubtedly, from the first edition when the side was branded a test side by several critics around http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750.
The performances of RCB in the last three years have been great. Many people said a lot of things when the team’s performance was not at the top notch in the first edition. Kumble said that he was glad about the fact that his team had qualified for the T20
twice in a row and he would be even happier if they could end it in the same pattern. That would be like the icing on the cake he said.
The skipper defended his bowling which seemed to be under fire in Durban and Johannesburg towards the end of the innings. Having restricted Mumbai and the Lions in the middle stages, Kumble’s bowlers leaked runs in the final overs, allowing the opponents
to touch respectable scores.
Kumble said that in T20 cricket you are bound to get hit at some point of time. But as long as the percentage of getting hit is not too high, it would not make a very big difference to him.
The Royal Challengers have now moved to Durban where they await their fellow semi-finalists.
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