Kohli wants to hold on to the Orange cap

BANGALORE: Despite being confident of his bowling capabilities, Royal Challengers Bangalore lynchpin Virat Kohli felt that the team's bowlers have performed well in the last two matches and so he wouldn't mind if another bowling opportunity didn't come his way in this IPL season.
"I am always happy to bowl if the ball is thrown at me. I have confidence that I won't go for 12-15 runs in an over because I have been working on it in the nets.When you don't get to bowl, it obviously means your bowlers are doing well and I hope it continues like that till the end of the tournament," said Kohli, who won a second consecutive Man of the Match in IPL 4, against Pune Warriors on Friday.
The fielding complemented the bowling effort of the home bowlers and Kohli was influential on the field as usual. "Everyone was really geared up to field and bowl well. It was probably the best fielding effort. I wanted to make a special contribution on the field so me, AB (de Villiers) and (Tilllakaratne) Dilshan were cheering the guys up, telling them to stay strong. It was a key game for us because after this we have a six-day break," said Kohli.
Yuvraj Singh, the visiting skipper, also acknowledged the tidy work by RCB and even singled out a phase in the Pune innings which cost them the match.
"It was a chaseable target because it was a good batting wicket. In the first six overs, we didn't lose many wickets but the Manish (Pandey) and Jesse (Ryder) partnership didn't yield many runs. If the runs had come at that time, me and Robin (Uthappa) could have finished off things. It wasn't that Manish was trying to hit and he couldn't hit. Jesse was trying to increase the run-rate. At that stage we needed a few good overs and they bowled really well," reasoned Yuvraj while conceding that both him and Uthappa should have batted higher in pursuit of the stiff target.
RCB too underwent a brief patch where the run-rate dipped but Kohli, the current Orange Cap holder, read the situation perfectly to spur the home team.
"I capitalized on the good start that we got and it was important for me to stay at the wicket. The wicket was good for batting and if you could play through the line, you could score runs. So I analyzed that when I went in to bat and it pretty much paid off for me," said the in-form Kohli.
The Delhi youngster attributed his success to the opportunity he was getting as a one-drop batsman. "I wanted to bat up the order for the last three IPL seasons and this time I got the chance. I always wanted to be in the top order but I was batting at 5-6-7. So this year I have had the opportunity to win some matches for the team and I am happy that I have earned the Orange Cap. I would like to hold on to it but the competition is tough," added Kohli.
The RCB's No.3's red-hot form consigned Pune to their fifth successive defeat and Yuvraj admitted the situation looked grim for his team. "It is really tough from now on. We have to win six out of six to have a chance. We will give our best and today I wished I had lost the toss. I have won the toss five times and we have lost those matches. I don't know what to say," concluded a disappointed Yuvraj.