Don’t mind ‘attached to Chris’ tag: Kohli

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Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli said his team does not mind being seen as too reliant on Chris Gayle after the West Indian swashbuckler made the decisive difference in the narrow two-run win over Mumbai Indians in an IPL match here.

Gayle, RCB’s most prolific run-scorer last season, was his usual aggressive self as he plundered 92 runs off 58 deliveries, which included 11 fours and five sixes.

“Obviously Chris has been magnificent for us. He has proved why he is the best Twenty20 player in the world and also showed us that he does not think about hard hitting, but thinks about the game as well,” he said.

“We are not worried about the tag attached to Chris. You can’t say this in the first game of the tournament,” he added.

Referring to his and Karun Nair’s dismissals, Kohli hinted that umpiring marred his team’s momentum and its chances of scoring in excess.

“I was reading the ball well and feeling good. As I said, a few decision which could have gone our way, did not happen. When I went in, Chris (Gayle) told me it is doing a bit and I just trusted myself and wanted to just time my shots. The two overs I played, the momentum shifted towards us and when I got out, the merit went to the other side,” he told reporters when asked if his departure changed the momentum of the game.

Kohli and Nair were given out leg-before wicket off Jasprit Bumrah.

Kohli said he was backing Daniel Christian to bowl a good over but the Australian ended up being hit all over the park.

“We knew 156 here is not enough to give us a victory by 30 runs and knew a big over is around the corner somewhere. There were two dot balls initially and I was backing Dan (Daniel Christian) to bowl a good over for us, but he got hit, which happens in the game, but we came back and I am really proud of the boys,” he said.

Dinesh Karthik had thrashed Christian for 24 runs with three sixes and a boundary in the 17th over of Mumbai’s innings.

On Bumhra’s bowling, Kohli said he is unusual and could be an exciting prospect for the country.

“We got him under pressure but when I got out he sort of got through those overs because the wicket was doing quite a bit. He did pretty well for his first game,” he said.