IPL 2021: Anil Kumble angry after Punjab Kings’ 2–run defeat to Rajasthan Royals, calls it ‘bitter pill’

Rajasthan
Royals
registered
a
thrilling
two-run
victory
over
Punjab
Kings
on
Tuesday
here
at
the
Dubai
International
Stadium.

Chasing
186,
Punjab
Kings
got
off
to
an
excellent
start
as
openers
KL
Rahul
and
Mayank
Agarwal
put
on
120
runs
for
the
opening
wicket.
However,
after
this,
Rajasthan
was
able
to
make
a
comeback
and
the
side
registered
a
thrilling
victory.

Kartik
Tyagi
returned
with
two
wickets
and
he
was
adjudged
as
Man
of
the
Match.
“It
is
sort
of
becoming
a
pattern
for
us,
especially
as
soon
as
we
get
to
Dubai
it
seems.
There
was
a
clear
message
that
we
need
to
finish
this
game
in
19
overs
and
that
was
the
approach.

”Unfortunately
we
let
it
till
the
end,
in
the
last
couple
of
balls
it
becomes
a
lottery.
The
new
batter
going
in,
it
is
a
bit
of
lottery.
Credit
to
the
way
Tyagi
bowled
the
last
over,”
said
Kumble
during
a
virtual
press
conference.

”It
was
obvious
he
is
going
to
bowl
wide
outside
the
off-stump,
some
of
our
batters
did
not
take
the
right
option,
yes,
it
has
become
a
pattern
and
that
has
something
we
need
to
discuss.
We
have
five
more
games
but
we
do
not
want
to
get
bogged
down
by
this
defeat.
It
is
certainly
a
difficult
pill
to
swallow,”
he
added.

Earlier,
Arshdeep
Singh
took
a
five-wicket
haul
for
Punjab
Kings
as
Rajasthan
Royals
was
bundled
out
for
185.
For
Sanju
Samson-led
side,
Yashasvi
Jaiswal
and
Mahipal
Lamror
scored
49
and
43
respectively.

For
Punjab,
Mohammed
Shami
also
scalped
three
wickets.
“It
was
a
very
good
wicket,
we
came
back
really
well
in
the
last
four
overs.
If
I
am
right,
we
picked
up
six
wickets
and
gave
away
just
20
runs.
Arshdeep
bowled
really
brilliantly.
Shami
bowled
brilliantly.
One
side
of
the
boundaries
was
short
and
the
other
was
longer.
At
one
stage,
Rajasthan
Royals
was
set
to
get
200,”
said
Kumble.

“You
have
to
take
positives
out
of
this,
the
way
we
played,
Rajasthan
looked
set
to
get
200
but
we
pulled
it
back
in
those
final
overs.
The
bowling
of
Arshdeep,
Shami
and
Harpreet
Brar
was
good.
There
are
enough
positives
from
bowling
and
batting.
The
opening
partnership
has
always
done
well
for
us,”
he
added.

Punjab
Kings
will
next
lock
horns
against
SunRisers
Hyderabad
on
Saturday
at
the
Sharjah
Cricket
Stadium.
With
this
win,
Rajasthan
Royals
have
climbed
to
the
fifth
slot
with
8
points,
same
as
Mumbai
Indians
but
behind
the
defending
champions
on
the
net
run
rate.

Punjab
Kings
under
KL
Rahul
are
rooted
to
the
seventh
place
with
six
points
and
they
have
5
games
left
in
the
IPL
2021
and
need
to
win
all
of
them
now
to
have
a
semblance
of
chance
to
enter
the
play-offs
and
even
the
they
might
have
to
resort
to
mathematical
calculations.