Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli revealed that he had asked his players to question their performances after his Indian Premier League side slipped to six straight losses.
“I remember after the sixth game everyone got together and we looked at each other and nodded our heads and that was it,” Kohli told Star Sports when asked how he kept his team-mates motivated after RCB had lost their first six games this season.
“We are doing everything possible and there is nothing going right. Even in the games when we were up for it 80 percent of the game and we would just lose it in those two overs.
“We just had one message to give to the team that we are committed 120 percent every ball, every minute. It is up to the individuals to look into the mirror and ask if they are doing enough,” he added.
Kohli, however, admitted that the team balance was not right during the first set of games.
“We always try to do our best,” he said.
“Sometimes, the balance of the team just is not right in a tournament like IPL for the team to fire. Someone who gets the balance right from game one – they go on and dominate all the games – teams like CSK, Mumbai Indians or Delhi [Capitals]. They have a good balance, which unfortunately, we could not achieve initially.”
When asked if RCB could have done differently at the start of the tournament, Kohli said: “I think it is always important to start well in IPL.
“We have seen that in the past. I think 2016 was a freakish season where we just played well and, in the end, did not win. But if you don’t start well your chances of qualifying becomes lesser and lesser.
“But if you collectively don’t win for six games, which none of us had experienced before, and we spoke about it and then everyone just woke up. I think it gets a little more difficult to go through the playoffs. But having said that we brought in a few new people as well. So, for them to settle in the IPL was not going to be easy. If some people got going then things would have been different.”
Kohli’s team-mate AB de Villiers said having some good players does not guarantee success on the field.
“The fact of the matter is tough to be a part of this tournament; it is very intense and it happens quickly. There are eight world class cricket teams and all teams can beat each other. We always come in as one of the favourites because we have some good players but that does not guarantee you success on the field.
“After the season when you look back, during the season you feel like you are doing many wrong things but when you look back there are tiny moments where we were couple of wins away from really being in a good position a week or so back and that is what it takes sometimes.”
