KKR Star Reveals True Nature Of Pitch, As Virat Kohli Gets Criticised For Slow Strike-Rate
After the victory of his team over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their Indian Premier League match, Kolkata Knight Riders batter Venkatesh Iyer praised all-rounder Sunil Narine for taking off pressure from batters with his explosive knock in the powerplay. Veteran star of West Indies Narine made his 500th T20 outing memorable for himself and KKR as he shined with an all-round show, helping his side secure a dominant seven-wicket win over RCB at Chinnnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
During the match, Venkatesh smashed a half-century but seemed to have injured his back during the knock while playing a shot.
Iyer said in the post-match presentation, "Let us see how my back is. I will know after a scan. The ball was coming on well in the evening. Credit goes to Sunil Narine, whose runs took the pressure off us. We just had to finish the formalities. With a platform like that, you have to maximise (on his mindset). Also, my fiance was here today so it was a special day. (Facing Vijaykumar Vyshak) Pace-off in totality was tough but if fast bowlers bowled pace-on, it was easy to take them to the cleaners. It happened with us in our bowling innings too.”
RCB batter Kohli was criticised for his slow knock, despite the star batter scoring 83 off 59 balls.
However, Venkatesh revealed that the pitch was two paced, slightly slower in the first innings.
He added, "The wicket was two paced and double bounce in first innings. And it was very difficult to hit boundaries in first innings. And pitch getting better to bat in second innings in yesterday's match at Chinnaswamy," he .