Star batsman Virat Kohli on Thursday termed “unfair” the criticism directed at his India and RCB teammate Yuvraj Singh for his performance in the recent World Twenty20 final.
“Yuvraj’s got criticism recently, it’s unfair. He has won us two World Cups (2007 and 2011). He is a proven match-winner and it’s important to back a player like him,” said Kohli after his side’s eight-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils in the IPL here.
Kohli praised his bowlers for restricting Daredevils to 145 for four.
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“It was a 170-plus track and to hold them down to 145 was big. Chahal did extremely well, Varun as well and Mitch too,” he said.
Kohli was dropped on 23 and 24, and when asked about that, said, “That’s what I was telling Yuvi in the middle, if those were mis-hits they wouldn’t have gone to hand.”
Daredevils captain Dinesh Karthik conceded that his side was beaten in all departments of the game.
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“We didn’t bat well enough, though Taylor and Duminy had a great partnership,” said Karthik.
“They batted well, kept playing their shots which came off. There was also some bad fielding. It looks like that when the opponent is hammering you.
“It’s the first game of the season and we’re getting used to who performs which role and it’s important for us to learn and come back in the next game.”