Kings XI Punjab captain Adam Gilchrist admitted that the Rajasthan Royals bowlers made the best use of the slow pitch on Thursday.
Gilchrist said a 150-plus target would have improved KXIP’s chances. “We had that foundation laid. The wicket was slow and dry compared to anything we had played on. The Rajasthan bowlers adjusted to it a lot better than what we did as a batting team,” said Gilchrist.
“A total of 150-160 might have been defendable. But they had bowlers who knew how to get the pace off the ball. They had enough skills to do that well. That restricted our batting, made it very hard to get to the boundary.”
Gilchrist expressed surprise that no one asked him about the debatable run out appeal made by Ajit Chandila against him during the match. “How fair was that?” he said, referring to the fact that RR was in contention for the Fair Play award.
Focusing on next game
RR’s Ajinkya Rahane, who played a match-winning knock, said his team was not thinking about the play-offs now. “We are thinking about our next game against Chennai in Jaipur. We just want to focus on that…the boys are playing well and as a unit.”
Rahane said he was not concerned about not being selected for the Champions Trophy. “Selection is not in my hands.”
