Virat Kohli not happy with RCB players after loss to KKR: 'Certainly not up to standard'

Royal Challengers Bangalore lost to Kolkata Knight Riders yet again in IPL 2023 by 21 runs in match 36 of the tournament. After losing the RCB vs KKR match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. RCB's stand-in captain Virat Kohli has lashed out at his team's fielders and feels that his team deserved to lose. Virat scored 54 runs in 37 balls and kept his team well in the chase but as soon as he fell, the target proved to be too much for the hosts and they ended up being on the losing side. 

'We did deserve to lose': Virat Kohli 

"To be honest we handed them the game. We did deserve to lose. We handed them a victory. We were certainly not up to standard. If you look at the game, we didn't capitalize on our chances. We dropped a few chances which cost us 25-30 runs. We set up ourselves really well. We ended up hitting the fielder to balls that weren't wicket-taking", Virat Kohli said in the post-match presentation. 

READ: CSK vs RR today match IPL live score

"It is what's on the scoreboard and how to get them. Even while chasing, despite losing wickets we were one partnership away from being in the game. We needed one partnership to get us home. We need to be switched on and not give away soft plays. We have won one and lost one on the road. It is not something that is making us nervous. We need to win some away games to be in good shape for the later stages of the tournament", Virat Kohli continued. 

KKR grab third win in IPL 2023 

Coming back to the further highlights of the RCB vs KKR IPL 2023 match, Kolkata Knight Riders put up a brilliant batting display in the first innings and registered a first-innings total of 200/6. Openers Jason Roy and Narayan Jagadeesan gave their team a brilliant opening start and added 83 runs for the first wicket. Roy went on to score a half-century and made 56 runs in 29 balls which consisted of four fours and five sixes. Skipper Nitish Rana played the anchor role after the openers fell and scored 48 runs in just 21 balls with three fours and four sixes. 

Coming into chase the target, RCB's permanent captain Faf du Plessis came in as an impact player and opened the innings with Virat Kohli. The orange cap holder though was not able to repeat his batting heroics and was dismissed for a score of 17. After du Plessis's wicket, Royal Challengers Bangalore lost two quick wickets in the name of Glenn Maxwell and Shahbaz Ahmed, and both of them got dismissed in single digits. Virat though held the innings from one end and went on to score a fifty but after his wicket the target proved to be too much for the hosts and they ended up being on the losing side.