As Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) suffered third consecutive defeat, their fourth loss in five outings in the tournament so far, skipper KL Rahul said it's hard not being on the winning side once again but his team must not get short of belief if they are to bounce back.
Rahul's men went down by ten wickets against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Match 18 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Dubai this Sunday (October 4).
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"Look it's hard being on the losing side for so many games, we've just got to keep trying harder. There's no rocket science, we know where we're going wrong. The execution part's been bad. I thought 178 was a good score," said Rahul at the post-match presentation ceremony, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
KXIP posted a total of 178/4 in 20 overs, with Rahul (63) making a half-century and Mayank Agarwal (26), Mandeep Singh (27) and Nicholas Pooran (33) playing good cameos at the other end.
The 179-run target was considered a difficult one on the surface and due to the form CSK batsmen had shown leading into the game. However, their openers Shane Watson (83*) and Faf du Plessis (87*) dominated the proceedings and finished off the match without any hiccup along the way.
"The wicket stopped a bit when we started batting, we felt like 170-180 was par on this wicket. But we know if we don't get wickets against players of this class, we'll struggle," said Rahul.
"We can attack and look for wickets if you're going 7-8 an over, but when you're going 10 an over at the start it's a little difficult to be aggressive. They're all professional players, they know where it's going wrong," he added.
KXIP's bowling attack was once again a major let down, as only young wrist-spinner Ravi Bishnoi (0/33) went relatively unscathed on the day.
Despite all issues, Rahul urged his team to keep their "chins up".
"Having said that, we need to keep our chins up and keep training harder. Hopefully, we'll learn and we'll bounce back," he signed off.
KXIP next play Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Thursday (October 8).
