IPL 2021: "We were looking to take the game as deep as possible" - Devdutt Padikkal explains RCB's slow scoring

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) opener Devdutt Padikkal has admitted that he and Virat Kohli deliberately played cautiously during the middle overs to try and shelter the new batters from the deteriorating surface in Sharjah.

Despite putting on an 111-run opening stand off 80 balls, RCB failed to cope with the pitch slowing down and eventually huffed and puffed to a below-par 156 for 6 from 20 overs. While the first six overs of the powerplay fetched 55 runs, the next seven overs also produced an identical tally of 56 despite having all 10 wickets intact.

Padikkal, who top-scored with an emphatic 70 off 50, attributed that run-rate stagnation to them being circumspect and taking only calculated risks.

“Yeah definitely, there’s always things we can improve on and at that point, we were looking to take the game as deep as possible. And we felt that the wicket was getting a little tougher, and we knew for someone new coming in, it won’t be that easy to straightaway get going.

“So yeah, that’s what we were looking to do and try and take our chances whenever possible, pick the right options and the right bowlers at the right time,” the 21-year-old opener said in response to Sportskeeda’s question during the post-match press conference.

Chasing 157 for victory, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) turned in a concerted batting performance to reach home with six wickets and 11 balls remaining. MS Dhoni’s men climbed to the top of the table with 14 points, while RCB remained third with five wins from nine matches.

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"We thought that the match was set up for them to go up and get runs" - Padikkal on RCB's change in batting order

Dwayne Bravo was adjudged the Man of the Match for a frugal spell of 3 for 24 from 4 overs [Credits: IPL]

RCB plundered 90 runs in the first 10 overs and looked set for a big score, but the CSK bowlers came back strongly through Dwayne Bravo (3 for 24). They bowled the right lengths, used slower deliveries to perfection and tied down the power-packed RCB middle order to just 66 runs in the second half of their innings.

An issue that has plagued RCB throughout this season is not having a settled No. 3. While wicketkeeper-batsman KS Bharat became the fourth RCB player this year to bat in that position against KKR, AB de Villiers was promoted to that slot tonight after the opening alliance was broken in the 14th over.

Asked about this shuffle, Devdutt Padikkal stated that the trio of De Villiers, Glenn Maxwell and debutant Tim David were promoted purely because of their brute force and their performances in the intra-squad matches.

“They are good batsmen as well and they are very much capable of clearing the boundaries, and we have seen that in our practice matches and stuff like that. So there’s no reason they shouldn’t be going higher and we just thought that the match was set up for them to go up and get those runs for us, unfortunately it didn’t work out. But yeah, these things happen,” the Karnataka player added.

RCB now face stiff competition from three teams breathing down their neck, all tied on 8 points. The Bangalore-based outfit will play defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) next on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium.