“I think this counterattack was even better than the Chennai match,” Kohli said in the post-match presentation. “Because, in the Chennai game, the conditions were great for batting, but today, I got out on the very first ball, which made us fall behind a bit; then Shahbaz (Ahmed) tried to go ahead (but) he got out. It happened, and the pitch was not so easy then.
“The way Maxi came in and batted was incredible. He took the match away from the opposition within four overs. And then Faf followed him, their partnership was amazing. One of the best counter-attacking partnerships I have seen is one of them, especially considering the conditions.
“I know (in the evening game), we have seen a lot of these (partnerships). But batting in conditions where the ball got tangled and the pitch got slow, ultimately that was the difference in the game.”
Du Plessis’ dismissal reduced RCB’s score from 139 for 2 to 189 for 9, with only 33 runs scored in the last five overs, but Kohli said the third-wicket partnership gave them a lot of support. them at ease.
“We thought at one point 160 would be enough, but because of the way he batted,” Kohli said. “We could have got to 190 and been a bit more comfortable, even though we had to defend under lights in the second half of their innings, as I said. So, it was that partnership that gave us a strong overall “Brought the game into position.”
“Phenomenal. We know he (Siraj) has got him (Buttler) before as well,” Kohli said. “He’s bowling as good as I’ve seen him bowl. Running in with that new ball, you can see his body language, his intent, he’s bowling on any pitch, in any conditions. Is, he believes he can choose.” Wicket up and that’s that. He has a purple cap and there’s a good reason for it. “He’s leading our attack right now until Josh comes in, hopefully in the next game, and he’s done an absolutely tremendous job and I’m really glad to see him bowl like that.”
Kohli said of Harshal, “He has kind of built a reputation but we are playing Chinnaswamy regularly.” “We know it’s not an easy ground to bowl on, and you have to look at the fact that he has to bowl difficult overs, he doesn’t have the new ball in his hand, he doesn’t have the middle overs to bowl. He Always come and bowl tough overs.”
“So you can get hit sometimes, but he’s a guy who’s very smart. He understands his game well, and for him to bowl like that and finish the game is a really good thing . He did that against Delhi. Well, bowled really well. So, yes, in a few matches in a row he has done well, and that’s a good sign for the team.”
Kohli said that RCB’s attack will become even stronger with the return of Hazlewood.
“As I said, if Hazlewood is fit and comes back, we will look like a completely different bowling unit and the way we are batting. I think that will give us a lot of confidence.”
Ekant is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo