KXIP Had Games in Pocket, Couldn’t Finish Them, Says KL Rahul

Earlier, KXIP lost to CSK by 10 wickets and was handed a nine-wicket defeat in their last league game too.

KL Rahul’s KXIP dropped crucial points in the first half of IPL 2020 but almost turned their season around with five wins on the bounce after that. On Sunday, they needed to win against the already knocked out Chennai Super Kings but lost heavily and the skipper acknowledged the poor form is what led to their downfall.

Punjab won one of their first seven games, against Royal Challengers Bangalore, before going on five-game unbeaten streak to bring their campaign back on track till their wheels came off against Rajasthan Royals and CSK in game 13 and 14.

“We didn't have results going our way in the first half. The team still felt we were playing good cricket. We were patchy at times with the bowling and the batting didn't come together in the first half, we started doing well in the second half and really proud that we gave ourselves an opportunity to come into the top four,” Rahul said after the match.

“If you look back at it, we had a lot of games in our pocket but we couldn't get over the line. We only have ourselves to blame.”

Among the close contests which Punjab lost, one was by a margin of two runs against Kolkata Knight Riders, and the other being the first game against the Delhi Capitals where Mayank Agarwal was wrongly called one-short when he tried to steal a quick couple off the bowling of Kagiso Rabada.

“At the start of the tournament, that short run has come back to bite us very hard. We all make mistakes and we have made a few this season. We need to accept it, learn from it and come back stronger.”

Touching on the second heavy defeat against CSK in IPL 2020, Rahul said that his side were just not up to the mark in a pressure situation.

“We didn’t bat really well, It is as simple as that. We didn't bat really well. Big pressure game and we expected 180-190 on the board, unfortunately we couldn't soak in the pressure and get a big total.”

Earlier in the season, during their series of defeats, KXIP lost to CSK by 10 wickets and was handed a nine-wicket defeat in their last league game as well.