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Kohli's decision to step down didn't play a role in heavy defeat against KKR: Mike Hesson

Aryasekhar Chakraborty

Director of Cricket at Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mike Hesson refused to accept that RCB’s below-par performance against the Kolkata Knight Riders was down to the decision taken by Virat Kohli just before the start of the UAE-leg of the tournament. Kohli announced that he will be stepping down from the captain’s role but will continue to play for RCB till the last day of his IPL career. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore got a reality check as they were annihilated by KKR by 9 wickets. After batting first, RCB managed to post just 92 runs with Varun Chakravarthy and Andre Russell bagging three apiece. 

Hesson stated that everyone was aware of Kohli’s decision beforehand and that had no role to play in their defeat. He added that the batting performance was nowhere close to where they would have wanted but is confident if making a turnaround in the remaining matches. 

"I think it was actually to get any form of distraction out early. We talked about making that announcement as soon as possible really, all the players were aware of it. It has not impacted performance against KKR, we were not sharp with the bat, we lost wickets. But I am confident that this group will turn around pretty quickly," Hesson was quoted as saying during a virtual post-match press conference.

"The team combination was not the problem today. To be fair, we probably got the toss wrong. It was not a 93-run wicket, we should have been able to get to 150. Whether that would have been enough or not, it is debatable because the ball started to slide down, but we were not sharp enough with the bat," Hesson further added.

RCB were skittled out for 92 in 19 overs after winning the toss and batting first. None of the batsmen could get going and despite a good stand between Devdutt Padikkal and KS Bharath, RCB could not post a competitive total. It was the 6th lowest score for RCB in IPL history. 

Meanwhile, Hesson said that it was hard for Rajat Patidar to get dropped. However, he added that given KS Bharat’s exceptional showing in the nets, he deserved to break into the XI. De Villiers scored a duck as he was dismissed by a searing yorker from Andre Russell. Hesson said that it is very important to look after him given the importance of Mr 360 for the franchise. 

"AB de Villiers did not have the gloves, we have to look after him. He is an important player for us, he is not one we can risk behind the stumps so that was unfortunate for Rajat as we needed a keeper-bat to do the role for us at number three. To be fair, KS Bharat has been outstanding in the camp and he deserves his inclusion," Hesson said.

"We were pretty clear in terms of Virat batting at the top, it is a lot harder to start against spin. We are very happy with Devdutt Padikkal and Virat opening the batting for us, high-quality players, left-right combination and KS Bharat can bat anywhere. We were forced for that change with AB de Villiers not keeping," Hesson concluded.

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