Legendary India batsman-turned-commentator, Sunil Gavaskar, felt Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) lost Thursday's (September 24) Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 encounter in Dubai against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the last four overs of the first half, where they conceded 74 runs at the death and saw KXIP take their score to 206/3.
Gavaskar questioned skipper Virat Kohli's tactics for not having enough of his first-choice bowlers' overs left, with inexperienced all-rounder Shivam Dube delivering the 20th, in which centurion KL Rahul smashed him to all parts and took KXIP comfortably past the 200-mark.
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"You got to question Virat Kohli's tactics in the last 4 overs. 74 runs in the last 4 overs, you saw who the bowlers were, you wouldn't be too surprised. I thought the last 4 overs would go for maybe 50 runs but they went for 74 runs. That's too much," Gavaskar told Star Sports in a post-match show.
To be really fair to Kohli, he was grappling through options, having been let down by specialist paceman Umesh Yadav, who went expensive once again. The skipper gave the ball to Dube also because he had earlier on bowled two tight overs and picked up a couple of wickets.
Gavaskar, though, felt Kohli might have given Dube an over too many. The former India captain also suggested that dropping in-form Rahul and seeing him continue with his impactful knock may have affected Kohli's tactics.
On a rare off-day, Kohli couldn't latch on to two of Rahul's catches, something he also felt made a big difference in the end.
RCB collapsed to 109 all out in the second half chasing the difficult 207-run target after Rahul's 132 not out had pushed KXIP to a massive total.
"Well, it certainly seems to be the case as far as his tactics were concerned in the last 4 overs because he just dropped KL Rahul in the 70s and the 80s and that may have stayed on his mind," said Gavaskar.
"So when it came to the last 4 overs, he wasn't sure who should be bowling them. You don't want to go for 49 runs in the last 2 overs. That's a big difference. At the end of the day, they almost lost by 100 runs, that's another matter."
"If it had been a matter of chasing 185-190, it would have been a completely different situation. But there you are, in cricket, that's what happens."
"However great you are, at the end of the day, you're human. Your feelings are always there, you're always thinking 'oh I should have taken that catch. Is it going to cost me much?'. In trying to think that way, you sometimes tend to think 'should I be moving that fielder there, should I be bowling him'. That can happen," he concluded.
