We don’t deserve to win if we field like that: Kohli

Bengaluru: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli said they didn’t deserve to win against Kolkata Knight Riders and blamed the sloppy fielding for their six-wicket loss which has jeopardised their IPL campaign.

RCB slumped to their fifth defeat in seven games after failing to defend 176 against KKR Sunday night.

“If we look back, we didn’t deserve to win. I don’t think we’re trying hard enough, we need to be hard on ourselves. We don’t deserve to win if we field like that. We can’t afford to field like that and let singles go to boundaries. We were just not good enough tonight.”

If RCB lose their next match against Mumbai Indians at home on Tuesday, they would put themselves in a precarious situation of winning all remaining games, out of which four are away games.

Kohli said they need to consider every match as a virtual semi-final from now.

“I can’t pin point anything right now, we need to win six out of seven to qualify from here. We need to be in that mindset to take every match as virtual semi-final from now,” he said.

“There’s no room for lapses, complacency or hesitation. We need our guys stepping up and hopefully the guys can put up a better show.”

Brendon McCullum said it was a big blow for Royal Challengers Bangalore to miss the services of AB de Villiers in the crucial match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.

“We definitely missed AB de Villiers. He is probably the best player in the world and one of the best we have seen in the history of the game, so for him to be absent was a huge blow for us.

McCullum hoped that de villiers returns in the next match after recovering from a viral infection. “He is desperate to get out there, so hopefully he will be back in the next game. He is such a key player for us, and such a good leader. A good man to have around,” he added.

Mumbai beat Bangalore in their last encounter by 46 runs at the Wankhede Stadium with Rohit Sharma and Evin Lewis hitting 94 and 65 respectively.

For Rohit’s side, except Suryakumar Yadav, who has 274 runs under his belt in seven matches as an opener, others have been inconsistent.

Rohit also needs to find form as the India opener has struggled to get past 20 in five games.

Big hitting West Indian all-rounder Keiron Pollard, in his twilight years, has been out of form and was dropped in the last game.

Jean-Paul Dumminy, who came in for Pollard in the last game, would be itching to be in the thick of things. The South African did not bat in the last match as Mumbai crossed the winning mark without his services.

Coming to the Pandya brothers — Hardik and Krunal — who have been good in their bowling would like to get big knocks with the bat as they have managed to score just 61 and 113 runs respectively in seven-odd matches they have played.

Mumbai will again bank on young spinner Mayank Markande, who has so far bagged 10 wickets from seven games with his leg-spin, to deliver the goods.