Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Krunal Pandya has credited Virat Kohli for his match-winning knock against Delhi Capitals during their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.
Krunal Pandya stepped up to make a superb 73 runs off 47 balls — blending immense composure with calculated aggression — and stitched together a 119-run partnership with Kohli, who scored 51 runs from 47 balls on a tricky pitch.
At one stage, Pandya was struggling to find the gaps. Having scored 17 off 21 balls at the halfway stage of the chase, it did look like the rusty Pandya would fall, as seen from him ducking a bumper from Mitchell Starc and being later beaten on the outside edge, apart from being slightly hit on the side of his helmet by Dushmantha Chameera.
But Pandya, promoted to number five, got his shift of gears timing right by hitting 56 runs off his last 26 balls.
“Virat Kohli’s energy is very infectious,” he told ipl20.com.
“It passed onto you also. He was the one who was constantly pushing me.
“I guess I will give a lot of credit to him also for my knock, where he kept backing me.
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“When I played the first 20 balls, I was hit on the helmet. But again, the attitude of not giving up and having that belief that you can’t give up and you will make a comeback.
“I guess, more than skill, it was mentally challenging. And if you are strong enough, eventually you will make a comeback,” he said.
Krunal, who bowled a tidy spell of 1 for 28, choked the run rate of DC.
“After playing sport for so many years, I have realized that there is more failure than success. The biggest learning is that you should never give up; you keep getting better, and when your opportunity comes, you win the match for your team,” he said.
“Somewhere down the line, every individual has made a comeback. We have played consistent cricket in these 10 games. We will try to make sure that we will continue this thing,” he added.
RCB are currently placed at the top of the points table.
RCB will not have a five-day break as their next match is against CSK on May 3 in Bengaluru.
