Can’t get bogged down by defeat against Rajasthan Royals, says Anil Kumble

Punjab Kings (PBKS) suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final over of their opening match of the UAE leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Tuesday. The Punjab-based franchise failed to score four runs off the final over, despite having wickets in hand as Kartik Tyagi left the PBKS fans stunned with his prowess. However, coach Anil Kumble refused to get disheartened by the defeat, adding that the franchise still had five more games in hand.

“There was a clear message saying we need to finish this game in 19 overs, that was the approach. But credit to how Tyagi (Kartik) bowled that last over. We don’t want to get bogged down by this defeat. We still have five more games,” said Kumble in the post-match press conference.

“I think you need to take positives out of this”

PBKS can still qualify for the playoffs if they win their remaining group games, which is certainly quite a stern challenge.

“I think you need to take positives out of this because we still have five matches. The way we played, at one stage Rajasthan looked like getting 200, but we pulled it back in those final overs with the bowling of Shami and Arshdeep. Harpreet Brar was also very good, even Porel (Ishan) to make his debut here and get a crucial wicket for us, he bowled really well. So there are plenty of positives,” added Kumble.

The PBKS head coach was full of praise for openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal who notched up their fifth 100 plus run stand in the IPL as a pair.

“There are enough positives with the batting as well. The opening partnership has always done well for us, and Aiden (Markram) and Nicky Pooran too,” concluded Kumble.

“It’s a tough one to swallow”

Rahul sounded disappointed following the defeat, admitting that his players had failed to learn from previous mistakes.

“It’s a tough one to swallow. We have been a team that has experienced games like these before. We need to see how we can handle pressure better. Trying to finish in the 18th over sometimes you go too hard and lose your way and let the opponents in. We haven’t learnt from previous mistakes. Will now try to come back stronger and win the next five games. We pulled things back quite nicely with the ball, kept taking wickets, which is very crucial in this format. Getting runs for me, Mayank and even Aiden in his first IPL game was important,” said the PBKS skipper as quoted by Cricbuzz.

Opposition skipper Sanju Samson stated that he kept believing till the very end.

“It’s funny that we kept believing (that we could win). I kept the overs of Mustafizur and Tyagi for the end, believing. Cricket is a funny game right. We just kept fighting and believing. I always believe in my bowlers, want to keep fighting and that’s why I kept those two overs till the end. To be very honest, to get that score on this wicket, we felt good because we had the bowling. If we took the catches, we could have won the game earlier. People have really worked hard on their fitness,” stated Samson.