IPL 2021: Srikar Bharat recounts his thoughts before hitting a six off the final delivery to win a thriller for RCB against DC

Srikar Bharat recounted what was going through his mind before facing the final delivery from Avesh Khan in the match against Delhi Capitals in IPL 2021. The RCB batter revealed that he wasn’t thinking about the result of the game while taking guard for the delivery.

The wicket-keeper batter led the Royal Challengers to a fairytale victory. He hit a six off the final delivery of the match with five runs needed to win the game.

In an interaction hosted by IPLT20.com, Srikar Bharat told his teammate Harshal Patel that the focus was more on ensuring contact with the ball.

“To be honest, I wasn’t thinking about winning the game or losing the game. I was just focusing on watching the ball and making a contact. That’s what Maxi and me spoke. If you get the strike, you just focus on watching the ball and hit the ball basically.”

The Andhra wicket-keeper shared his elation about the training and chats about grabbing the opportunity finally bearing fruit.

“We always believe in our chats that we are eleven individuals playing out in the center. We all are match-winners, as well as people who are benching also are match-winners. If you look at it, you got to step up to the occasion. That’s what we train.”

Coming in to bat at no.3, Srikar Bharat top-scored in the game for the Royal Challengers, scoring 78 runs off just 52 deliveries.

Srikar Bharat lauded AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell for their intent in the final league game of IPL 2021

Srikar Bharat (L) and Glenn Maxwell put on an unbeaten stand to take their team home

Srikar Bharat credited the intent shown by AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell right from the outset. Bharat built a crucial partnership of 49 runs with de Villiers after the quick dismissals of the openers. Once the South African got out, Glenn Maxwell joined him in the middle and built an unbeaten stand of 111 runs to take the team home.

“It all started with AB and myself. When we were playing, AB really came with positive intent and he was taking the bowlers on, which gave huge confidence to me (…) Then Maxi had come in. He also had a great intent right from ball one. So it eased the things off,” Srikar Bharat stated.

Focusing on the basics of the game helped him get to his first IPL half-century, said Srikar Bharat.

“I was trying to do the little things right, in putting the ball in gaps and running hard and taking the right areas on this wicket, especially for Axar and all. It gave me a lot of confidence going after Axar.”

After finishing third in the points table, Royal Challengers Bangalore will face Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator on October 11. The match will take place at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.