RCB batsmen not clicking at the same time, says pacer Aniket Choudhary

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have had nothing to cheer for as they suffered their ninth defeat in the ongoing edition of the IPL. Although they were already knocked out of the tournament, RCB had a chance to end their losing streak when they took on the Kings XI Punjab at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. However, yet another batting collapse ensued in RCB’s fourth straight loss in this season.

Chasing 139, the Royal Challengers were bundled out for a mere 119, thus losing the game by 19 runs. The Kings XI Punjab successfully defended the lowest total at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in IPL history. RCB pacer Aniket Choudhary rued his team’s batting failure in the post-match press conference.

“You can say it’s a bad timing. Our batsmen are not clicking at the same time and it’s a bad phase. We restricted them to a small total and wanted to start aggressively in the first six overs, but it again fell against us. It was not a huge total, we wanted to win for the crowds as there is nothing for us in the tournament now. But sadly we lost,” Choudhary said.

The tall left-arm seamer bowled an exceptional wicket maiden in the 19th over. He removed Mohit Sharma off the first ball and followed it up with 5 dot balls. His efforts were however undone as Axar Patel smashed veteran Shane Watson for 19 runs in the final over.

“It feels bad that after bowling a 19th over maiden, the last one went for 20 runs. But it’s a part of the game and it’s sheer bad luck,” the 27-year-old said. “It’s important that we win for the crowd but it’s a sad part that we lost. With only two victories so far RCB are at the bottom of the points table.”

RCB’s collapse on Friday night was the fourth occasion when Bangalore were bowled out in this season of the IPL. Skipper Virat Kohli was out and out dejected. “We let ourselves down with the bat once again. I have not seen so many collapses for a team in one season. You don’t really understand what to do in times like these,” said Kohli, who was clearly disheartened by the team’s poor form.

The Royal Challengers still have another couple of games left in the tournament. They next take on the Kolkata Knight Riders at home on Sunday. RCB will then move to Delhi to play the final game of the league phase against the Delhi Daredevils.