If you drop Virat Kohli in a chase, bound to get difficult: Abhishek Nayar
Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Abhishek Nayar pointed to two decisive moments in his side’s defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Wednesday: Virat Kohli’s dropped catch and the absence of Varun Chakravarthy.
Nayar admitted KKR paid heavily for giving Kohli an early lifeline during RCB’s chase of 193, with the former India captain making them suffer with an unbeaten 105 off 60 balls to seal a six-wicket win.
“When you drop Virat Kohli, especially in a chase, it becomes very difficult,” Nayar said after the match.
However, Nayar did not pin the defeat entirely on that missed chance, saying several small moments combined to shift the contest in RCB’s favour.
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“As I said earlier, the score was fine on this pitch. There are a lot of things that could have been better. Virat’s catch was a very tough one. The Angkrish catch, you would expect him to take.”
Varun’s absence hurt KKR’s bowling plans
The KKR coach also highlighted the absence of Varun Chakravarthy, who missed the match with a toe injury, as a significant setback for the side.
“At the end of the day, cricket works like that. If we had another 10-15 runs, maybe the game changes. If those catches are taken, maybe the game changes. If Varun Chakravarthy plays, maybe the game changes.”
Nayar acknowledged how heavily KKR rely on the spin partnership of Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine.
“It is an open secret that we have done really well with the Sunny-Varun combination. It is unfortunate that we have missed him a lot this season.”
“This is the second time he has had a fracture, which is unfortunate for him. You will always miss a Varun Chakravarthy.”
Despite the defeat, Nayar maintained that KKR’s total of 192/4 was competitive and credited youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi for helping the side recover after early trouble.
“Midway through the innings, we felt anywhere between 180 and 200 would be a good score. There was no dew as well, so that was not a factor.”
Nayar was particularly impressed with Raghuvanshi’s composure against a high-quality RCB pace attack, with the youngster’s unbeaten 71 emerging as one of the few positives for KKR from an otherwise frustrating night.
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