Kohli wants Royal Challengers to ‘enjoy the occasion’

On the eve of the IPL 2016 final against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Virat Kohli has said that “being in pressure should be a privilege for a sportsman” and has asked his side, Royal Challengers Bangalore, to enjoy the occasion of their third final in eight years but not be overawed by it.

There is a history of Royal Challengers coming unstuck when everything is on the line. Kohli knows this. He was captain in 2012, when all they had to do was beat Deccan Chargers in their final league match to make the playoffs. Despite keeping the opposition to 132, they crashed out with a nine-run loss. They wilted in another high-pressure situation, in 2014, when Kohli and his team had to defend 16 off the final over and then two off one ball as RP Singh had Ravindra Jadeja caught, off a no-ball and let Chennai Super Kings off the hook.

But in 2016, Royal Challengers have handled pressure excellently. They were in sixth place, needing to win four out of four matches to qualify for the playoffs and they did just that as Kohli racked up scores of 109, 75*, 113 and 54* to take his team to second on the points table. In the first qualifier, reduced to 29 for 5 in a chase of 159, AB de Villiers pulled off one of the better rescue acts in T20 cricket with an unbeaten 79 off 47 balls and helped his side clinch a four-wicket win. Royal Challengers, this season, have not been fazed by pressure of a big occasion because Kohli and the head coach Daniel …

continue reading in source www.espncricinfo.com

Related Posts

• 
  Anderson becomes No. 1 Test bowler
• 
  Vice-captaincy will not affect my batting – Rahane
• 
  Shaminda Eranga reported for suspect action