IPL 2021: [Watch] RCB skipper Virat Kohli motivates the team with a pep talk following heavy loss against KKR

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) slid to a mammoth nine-wicket loss against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 31 of the 2021 Indian Premier League. RCB registered their worst defeat in terms of balls spared on the occasion of Virat Kohli's 200th match with the franchise.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, the franchise lost Kohli early on, a ball after he played a flamboyant cover drive for four off Prasidh Krishna. The skipper could not deal with a delivery coming in towards him from the young pacer and was adjudged LBW as a result.

Things took a turn for the worse after the powerplay for RCB, as KS Bharat (17), AB de Villiers (0) and Glenn Maxwell (10) fell one after the other. Ultimately, the three-time finalists could only muster 92 runs on the board.

RCB were never in the game while defending such a low total and KKR cruised to victory in 10 overs to hand the side their third loss of the season. Following the defeat, skipper Virat Kohli spoke about the importance of moving away quickly from a loss to focus on the next encounter.

He said to the dressing room, as recorded by the RCB social media team:

"We are better off accepting it immediately and being at peace with it. Not meaning that we don't look forward to the next one but, it should give us more hunger to get on to the field again. And play the cricket that we have already played in this tournament."

"It's about accepting that this kind of a game will happen at some stage. There is no reason why we should react differently to losses. We have to stay pretty balanced as a team if we have to go all the way."

RCB now have the worst net run rate out of all eight franchises, which could put them in trouble. It is worth noting that in the last two editions of the IPL, the final IPL playoff spot has been determined through net run rate.

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None of our batsmen could get on with the game: RCB batting consultant Sanjay Bangar

Sanjay Bangar lamented the batting collapse that followed after the powerplay. RCB were relatively well placed at 41-1 after 5.5 overs. But a collapse was triggered once Devdutt Padikkal perished for 22 off the final delivery of the powerplay.

The team were quickly reduced to 66-7 with KKR keeping things tight in the middle overs. Speaking about the team's disastrous day with the bat out in the middle, Bangar said:

"Actually having lost five wickets within a span of 25 runs is a big big setback for any batting team especially in the one day format. None of our batsman could get on with the game after Devdutt Padikkal got out in the lsst ball of the powerplay."

"Have a chat one on one with each batsman and try to know what their mindset and thought process was during the course of the innings. Get to understand what was going on there in between. Obviously, the key message would be to get behind this loss and look forward to the next one."

RCB will take on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) next in Sharjah on September 24.