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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) lost their second match of the season against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by a huge margin of 97 runs on Thursday, September 24.
Chasing a massive target of 207, the Challengers bundled out for 109 in the 17th over of the game.
Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has pointed out loopholes in Virat Kohli’s captaincy that led to such a massive defeat.
Gambhir opined that the RCB skipper should have gone for Navdeep Saini or Dale Steyn instead of Shivam Dube in the last over of KXIP’s innings.
Rahul, who has already reached the triple-figures mark by then, clobbered Dube all over the park and amassed 23 runs from the 20th over.
“I know Shivam Dube bowled really well in his first two overs. Yes, you would be tempted to give him a third over, but not the last over. When KL Rahul is already set and batting on 100+, you are walking on the edge, because that can happen,” Gambhir told ESPNCricinfo.
“I would have Navdeep Saini or Dale Steyn bowling the last over, even though Steyn is not the best death over. But I would have given the last over to the best bowler of the team,” he added.
Gambhir talks about dropped chances of KL Rahul
The cricketer-turned-politician further talked about missed chances of KXIP skipper, KL Rahul, which proved costly for RCB in the end.
Rahul was dropped twice by Kohli in the space of six deliveries. The dashing right-hander went on to score a sensational 132 not out off just 69 balls.
“Had KL Rahul got out for 86-89, Kings XI would have scored 185, and chasing that would have been a completely different game plan for RCB. That is how it happened, that is what T20 cricket. Small mistakes can make a huge difference as well. It was a huge impact, especially from those results point of view,” concluded Gambhir.
RCB will play their third match against the defending champion Mumbai Indians (MI) on Monday, September 28.
