KL Rahul Reveals the Reason of Their Defeat
IMAGE: COLLECTED
|| India Correspondent ||
Kings XI Punjab's five-match winning streak in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 has finally come to an end as Rajasthan Royals beat them by seven wickets in Abu Dhabi. After the game, KXIP captain KL Rahul blamed losing the toss, citing that dew made it difficult for the bowlers in the second innings.
Notably, Rajasthan had won the toss and opted to field first. KXIP posted 185 with Chris Gayle top-scored with 99, and Rahul scored 46 off 41 balls. While chasing, Rajasthan chased it down with 2.3 overs in hand.
"It was a horrible toss to lose with the amount of dew later on. It did get very very easy to bat on in the second innings," Rahul said at the post-match presentation.
"We play with two leg spinners (M Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi), wrist spinners, and we want the ball to be dry and get some grip off the surface. But with the dew it got really difficult."
"On a sticky wicket, as it was when we batted, this was not a bad total. We didn't bowl badly, but we need to learn to bowl better with the wet ball. The dew has been unpredictable through the tournament. When I spoke to the groundsman he said there was no dew last game. You can't prepare for it, but you have to be able to adapt to that," he further added.
However, KL Rahul said that he wasn't surprised that their chance to play in the playoffs has come down to their last match, against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday. KXIP have 12 points from 13 matches now and they will have to beat CSK and hope for other match results to work for them, along with the improvement in the NRR.
"It has been the kind of season where we've not got anything easy. We have had to work hard for every point. No surprise that it has come down to the last game. Hopefully, we can put in a good performance and somehow squeeze into the (playoff) spots," concluded Rahul.
