Former England captain Kevin Pietersen said, that the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli now is comfortable with his bowling department and that is showing results in the ongoing IPL 2021.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are on the top of the points table with four wins and are undefeated in the IPL 14 so far.
However, one of the main reasons for RCB being at the top of the table is their bowling department. Mohammed Siraj has been the biggest revelation with the ball for Virat Kohli-led side and has been brilliantly supported by Kyle Jamieson at the top.
RCB’s death over problems seems to have solved by Harshal Patel, who currently holds the purple cap for most wickets, and the spinners have chipped in as well.
Addressing the same former England skipper Kevin Pietersen said that RCB has always struggled with their bowling department but they are now comfortable with the likes of Jamieson and Siraj. He added that they are no longer dependant on the Chahal to take all the wickets.
"It is the bowling department that they have struggled with. Dale Steyn, like I said earlier, Mitchell Starc, was someone who was almost there, almost came. They've got through that many bowlers.
"It looks like they've been comfortable with Kyle Jamieson and Mohammed Siraj. Yuzvendra Chahal is not the kind of guy that has to come on in the third and fourth over and then drag it back and get all the wickets," Kevin Pietersen said on Star Sports pre-show Cricket Live.
Pietersen said that the bowling department of RCB is something skipper Virat Kohli now feels comfortable about and they’ve got back-ups for their first choice seamers.
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"As good as he is, that's a hell of a lot of pressure for somebody to do every single season. So, I just think that the bowling department is something that Virat now feels comfortable about. And when you've got guys like Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson, and Daniel Sams all still waiting to play, he knows that he's got back-up," he said.
Pietersen further said that because of the bowling department RCB makes such a big difference and skipper Kohli was always in search of combinations in his bowlers who could make the impact they do with the bat. He, however, added that their batting department is absolutely fine.
"I think I'm going to talk about this point again, just purely on the basis that I think it makes such a big difference to RCB, the bowling department.
“Virat Kohli has been desperately searching for combinations in his bowlers -- to try and make sure that they start the innings with the impact like they're able to do with the bat. Kohli, De Villiers, they've now got Glenn Maxwell, Devdutt Padikkal, they've got all that. So, the batting department is absolutely fine," he concluded.
The Virat Kohli-led side for the first time in the history of IPL has won their first four matches on the trot and will look to extend their four-match winning streak to four as they face Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their next match on 25th April at Mumbai.
(Star Sports inputs)
