“Poor shot selection let RCB down”

HYDERABAD: Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli said his wicket and bad shot selections let down the team badly in their loss to Deccan Chargers in the crucial penultimate league match at Uppal Stadium on Sunday.

“Dale (Steyn) really bowled well. He is one of those guys one needs to be cautious initially and target other bowlers. I don’t think we played the right kind of shots on that wicket. We could have got more. So I had to take chances. But in the end my wicket changed the whole face of the match. We were well poised at that stage, needing 30 runs off 25 balls. That is how we learn and today we made a lot of mistakes,’’said a disappointed Kohli.

Kohli said Chris Gayle was always a big player but there were other players ready to step up whenever needed.

“But unfortunately it could not happen today. It was bad day for us.  He (Gayle) has been playing for the last two years and other players looked to step up and contribute to the team’s cause. We should have made better decisions while batting on this sort of wicket and probably we could have read the wicket much better,’’ he said.

Since Deccan Chargers had nothing to lose, they played freely.

“When a team has nothing to lose, they go all out to enjoy cricket. They bowled in good areas in the middle overs. I don’t think the wicket was that bad to bat on although it was two-paced but if you got yourself in,  you could hope to hit some big shots at the  end of the innings. Apart from small partnerships between me and Saurabh (Tiwary), we could not build any sort of partnership.”

Kohli also said he told the boys to be positive on eve of the match.