Varun Chakravarthy put on a show with the ball as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) crushed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 9 wickets in their IPL 2021 resumption match in Abu Dhabi on Monday (September 20).
The mystery spinner returned with the figures of 3/13 in his four overs to help KKR bowl out RCB for a paltry 92 in 19 overs. Glenn Maxwell (10), Sachin Baby (7) and Wanindu Hasaranga (0) were his victims.
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After the game, RCB skipper Virat Kohli showered rich praise on Chakravarthy, saying his performance is a great sign for Indian cricket.
"(On Varun Chakravarthy) Pretty good, that's exactly what I was saying in the dug-out, he's going to be a key factor when he plays for India. We need to see performances like these from all the youngsters so that the bench strength of Indian cricket stays strong. And, he's someone who is going to play in the near future for India and it's a great sign," quoted Kohli during the post-match presentation ceremony.
He also spoke about the dew factor and said: "It was important to get a good partnership on this surface. We honestly didn't expect that much dew to kick in so early, we couldn't have predicted that. It looked like a good wicket to bat on first up. We were 42-odd for one and then lost about five wickets within 20 runs from there, which is a very difficult situation to come back from. Bit of a collapse there for us, bit of a wake-up call and might as well have this at the start of the second leg so that we know exactly what we need to work on."
The RCB captain also highlighted the importance of adjusting to the formats of the game.
"As professional cricketers, you are expected to turn up and adjust to the formats, that's the dynamic of world cricket today. We have never found any troubles doing that but sometimes it can take you a game to get into the tournament. You have to stay with the 8-ball, especially in this format. If not, then the other team is going to be all over you. You can't afford to lose four or five wickets within 20 runs," he said.
"We have five wins from eight games, we expect a loss here and there in this tournament. That's part and parcel of things. You have to take it in your stride like you take your victories in your strides as well. We just need to be professional and stick to our strengths and make sure that we execute the plans that we have properly on the field. We have absolute confidence on this squad that we'll be able to pull up from the next game onwards and put in strong performances," he added.
Chasing the target, Knight Riders got over the line with 60 balls to spare on the back of Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer’s 82-run opening stand.
While Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Gill on 34-ball 48, debutant Iyer remained unbeaten on 41 off 27 balls to take KKR home.
(With ANI inputs)
