‘We were 20 runs short’: Kumble

Chennai: Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Anil Kumble feels his side can bounce back after two successive losses. Here's more from his interaction with the media.

Excerpts

On losing to seventh-placed Chennai Super Kings

[That a] team is in the seventh position in a twenty over game doesn't make a difference. I mean you can win a match and you can lose a match, it doesn't really matter [how you’re ranked]. On that particular day, you need to play well. And I thought Chennai really played well. I think we had the momentum, we lost a little bit of momentum after the 13th or 14th over. When we were batting, maybe we were 20 runs short. If we had got 180 on this wicket, I think it [would’ve] been a winning score.

On lack of effort on the bowling front

Yeah, [we lacked something] not the effort. The effort was there. It is just that results came right at the end. But if maybe, like I said, [we had scored] 20 runs extra [it would’ve changed things]. We had that foundation to really kick in, but that didn't happen today. It was just one of those days. We lost a little bit right at the end while we were batting.

On the heat in Chennai

You are in Chennai, obviously you will sweat. It is pretty hard there.

On whether the loss points to a problem in the side

I don't think we have a problem. It’s just that the result didn't come our way. I think we have a lot of quality. It’s just half-way through the tournament, there're still seven matches to go. And I think four out of seven is not a bad start. I think it’s just that we lost a little bit in that batting period and then maybe early wickets [did us in] Murali Vijay really batted well. You should also give Chennai credit.

On losing two games in a row

We had plenty of losses last year. And then we changed that. So it’s just a matter of one game. And we are playing two more games in three days. So hopefully those will go our way.