Punjab Kings' skipper (PBKS) KL Rahul while talking about the loss against Delhi Capitals (DC) in an IPL 2021 encounter said that victory on his birthday would’ve been sweet.
Invited to bat, Punjab Kings on account of Mayank Agarwal’s 69, skipper Kl Rahul’s 61, and brilliant finish by Deepak Hooda and Shahrukh Khan posted a decent total of 195 runs against Rishabh Pant-led side in their third game of IPL 14.
Chasing the target Delhi Capitals openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw once again gave their team a flying start as they stitched 59 runs partnership for the first wicket.
Shikhar Dhawan took PBKS’ bowlers to cleaners and scored a blistering 49 balls 92 runs knock that helped his team to chase the target with ease and also register their second win of the season.
With this chase, DC also registered the 2nd highest successful run chase in the IPL at the Wankhede Stadium.
While talking about the loss at the post-match presentation, PBKS skipper Kl Rahul, who was celebrating his 29th birthday, said that victory on his birthday would’ve been sweet. He added that they will come back stronger and will try to win few games.
"Victory (on his birthday) would have been sweet, so it's slightly disappointing. But we have a lot of games, so hopefully, we come back stronger and win few games. Right now it looks 10-15 runs short, but I think 190-odd looked good. I and Mayank thought 180-190 would have been great on this wicket," KL Rahul said during post-match presentation.
Rahul while lauding Shikhar Dhawan for his knock admitted that it’s always challenging to defend target at Wankhede stadium.
"Shikhar batted well, so congratulations to them. When we come to Wankhede, bowling second is always a challenge. We prepare for such conditions. It does get difficult against these quality batters," he said.
KL Rahul further said that dew played a massive role in their loss and added that he asked umpires to change the ball a couple of times but it isn’t in the rule books.
"I'm not saying that because I'm on the losing side. Bowlers try to bowl with the wet ball, but it's always difficult to do that. I asked the umpires to change the ball a couple of times (as it was wet), but the rule book doesn't allow that," he concluded.
Punjab Kings will next face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on 21st April at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
(India today inputs)
