Kumble down but not out

Bengaluru: Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Anil Kumble was a dejected man as he faced the media after a second successive loss, this time at the hands of the Deccan Chargers. Despite the latest setback he remains confident of a swift turnaround. Here's more from his interaction with the media.

Excerpts:

On the reason behind the loss after posting 184 on the board: We needed wickets consistently on this pitch. We knew the wicket would play better as the game progressed, we needed wickets to keep the run-rate down and unfortunately we did not get that. Post the 12, 13-over mark we never got a wicket. Having said that, I thought 184 was certainly defendable.

On his team’s chances of making it to the semis: Yeah, I think it was the same last year as well. I guess we are used to this and we need to pull up our socks and ensure that we start winning from here on. It’s not been good in the last four or five games, as a bowling unit I don’t think we have done enough. But I think all the three departments need to come good for us to start clicking.

On dropping Kevin Pietersen: I think when we look at the balance of the team, this was a good balanced team. It’s tough when you have the quality that we have with people like Kevin Pietersen and Mark Boucher [left out], it’s never easy. I mean, Roelof van der Merwe has done exceptionally well for us as well. So it’s very difficult when you have seven or eight players like that and you have to choose only four. Very difficult but I thought whatever team we put out on the park was probably the best team for these conditions. Unfortunately we did not deliver today.

On the team delivering on faster wickets than slower, like the one used today: Yeah, I mean, on this pitch we had the same bowling unit which has delivered in the last four games, so it was one of those things where probably it was slightly sticky when we started batting. It took a bit of time for our batters to get used to it and that’s the reason why we maybe did not get enough runs in the first part of our innings. But, having said that, we finished really well and I thought 184 was defendable and we need to start looking at how we can get better in the bowling department.

On Virat Kohli’s performance – the perfect finish by him (58 off 35 balls): Yeah, he has certainly improved. He’s done well as a player. He has got the confidence now, since he’s more or less a regular member of the Indian team. So I think being a part of the Indian team certainly helps. The international exposure and the quality that he has, he can certainly deliver and today he showed what a quality player he is. And that's probably the positive part from this game but, having said that, we need to start doing really well in all the three departments of the game.

On discussing responsibilities within the team: The side definitely knows what the responsibility is and we were in a similar position last year as well where we had to win every game, every day. So it’s not any different this year and, you know, one day's break and you again come back and try and do your best and hopefully the result will be in our favour.

On this loss not being a big worry, since RCB can still make it to the semis: No, when you lose it’s definitely a worry. You need to try and put together a good winning combination and, unfortunately, we have not been consistent in the last three or four games. So that certainly is a worry. But, having said that, you can’t really sit and brood. You have just one day to re-group and ensure that whatever team you select will certainly deliver. So [I am] hoping that that will happen on the 10th (against KKR).

On not having any plans for Tirumalasetti Suman (who hit 78 not out for DC): He hasn’t probably got the runs this season, something which you don’t expect. But then, having said that, if a player bats at number three then you expect he’s probably their main player. So he did bat really well. We got (Adam) Gilchrist out reasonably early and we knew that he was a dangerman. But then we knew that Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds [were also dangermen]. We also got Rohit Sharma today but Suman and Symonds saw them through.