Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli on Monday admitted that going into the decisive Indian Premier League (IPL) game against Delhi Capitals (DC) the

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain expressed his satisfaction after qualifying for the playoffs in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) but admitted that their “mindset was a little bit tentative” during the defeat against Delhi Capitals.

Advertisement

Delhi’s six wickets victory in Abu Dhabi on Monday helped them in finishing the league stage at the second position The margin of the victory, though, ensured RCB’s qualification as well. Kohli’s men will play the eliminator either against Kolkata Knight Riders or Sunrisers Hyderabad.

“We are happy that we’ve qualified. Top two would’ve been really very nice. But I think we’ve played good enough cricket to earn a qualification spot. You could say just before the qualification, the mindset was a little bit tentative. We have a shot, an opportunity and that’s all we want as a team,” Kohli said after the game.

“I’m sure the guys will be excited about what’s ahead for us. We can be more brave with the bat in pockets. With the ball, we were decent, probably we could have a strong powerplay, which is our strength. If we implement those things, we’ll be at the right end of the result. It’s important to stay positive,” he said.

Delhi Capitals chased RCB’s commendable total of 152/7 with ease, thanks to an 88-run stand between opener Shikhar Dhawan (54 off 41 balls) and Ajinkya Rahane (60 off 46).

Following their dismissal, though, Delhi had suffered a mini collpase as RCB made sure they don’t lose by a big margin for them to maintain a healthy net run-rate. RCB dragged Delhi’s innings till the end of 18th over.

Earlier, South African pace duo Kagiso Rabada (2/30) and Anrich Nortje (3/33) came all guns blazing on a slow Abu Dhabi surface to restrict RCB to 152/7 in 20 overs.

“There are going to be learning along the way, but we are glad that we are through. We’ll have to assess what’s happening. Hopefully, they’ll [Chris Morris] and [Navdeep Saini] be fine by the time we play our next game. And see how they go in the next few days,” said Kohli, looking ahead.