Virat Kohli could have been jaded from England tour, RCB were lacking match-practice, says Brian Lara

IPL 2021: Brian Lara said that while Virat Kohli could have been jaded from the long tour of England, some of the other players in the Royal Challengers Bangalore looked devoid of match practice in their nine-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders. AB de Villiers was dismissed for a golden duck on Monday. (Courtesy by BCCI)HIGHLIGHTSLara said that Glenn Maxwell looked like he was not there mentally against KKRRCB fell to a crushing nine-wicket defeat against KKR in Abu DhabiRCB were blown away for just 92 runs and KKR chased it down in 10 oversWhile captain Virat Kohli may have been jaded from India’s long tour of England, many players in the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) setup seemed to lack match practice in the game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday, former West Indies captain Brian Lara said. RCB fell to a crushing nine-wicket defeat against KKR in what was their first match after resumption of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates.

“One of the areas (of concern for RCB) is ‘where is the match fitness? It could be a jaded Virat Kohli as well,” Lara told Cricket.com”Are guys lacking match-practice? Yes. You look at (Glenn) Maxwell. He looked disgusted. He looked frustrated and all of a sudden, he was back. He was nowhere near that delivery. That looked to me like a guy who was mentally not there and willing to handle the battle at hands,” the West Indies great pointed out.RCB may have won the last four encounters between the two teams but the two teams were more closely matched than what the recent statistics would say, according to Lara.”We think here is an RCB team that hasn’t only dominated in the first half but they have played better cricket. They had five wins out of seven and with KKR struggling, you think it is going to be a walk in a part. But when you really look man to man, the contest is closer,” Lara said.Click here for IndiaToday.in’s complete coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

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