Decision to push AB down the order didn’t work: Virat Kohli

TIL Desk Sports/ Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli admitted that the decision to push A B de Villiers down the order did not work, but hastened to add that his bowlers should have been able to defend 171 against Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League match, in Sharjah, on Thursday.

De Villiers, who had smashed a 33-ball 73 against Kolkata Knight Riders in their last match, was expected to come in at his usual No. 4 spot, but with two leg-spinners in operation, left-hand batsman Washington Sundar was sent ahead of the South African.

Royal Challengers were unable to accelerate in the death overs and if it wasn’t for the 8-ball 25 by Chris Morris in the last over, the total would have finished well below 160.

“We had a chat, a message from outside about left-right combination, and we wanted to go with it because they had two leggies. Sometimes things don’t come off. We’re pretty happy with the decisions we took, but it didn’t come off,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation.