We gave away too many runs: KL Rahul

"We have been conceding 20 runs extra towards the end and I think that cost us the game today." © BCCI

Another Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) game and another poor show by the bowlers. As a batsman, you might even sit in that dressing room and wonder what more you need to do to win a game for the team. The batsmen have posted scores of 227, 191, 170, 185, 180 batting first in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 so far.

For the first time in the season, Virat Kohli decided to bat second as they took on Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium on Saturday (April 30). Bangalore's bowlers have struggled to defend a total, but there was hope amongst their fans as their unit was bowling first. However, there was hardly any change.

As many as 85 runs were leaked in the last seven overs as SRH captured key moments to post a massive 194 for 5. At the halfway mark, Hyderabad captain David Warner even said that 170 was a par score on this surface. In the end, it turned out that Bangalore, despite having a world-class batting line-up, came close but lost the match by 15 runs.

KL Rahul, the opener from Karnataka, was very fluent and breezy at the top, but his excellent fifty went in vain. When you do the postmortem, you figure out that the bowlers' inability to arrest the run flow is the root cause. Discussing the game after a hard-fought loss, Rahul conceded that the bowlers, despite a good beginning, did not close out well.

"I think we started off really well. I mean, whatever we planned to bowl at Shikhar and Warner and to get that early wicket, I think it worked out really well, but towards the end we gave away too many runs. It's very hard to bowl to David Warner when he's settled and seeing the ball so well. He has the orange cap and has been getting a lot of runs for Sunrisers Hyderabad. We knew if we didn't get him out early, he could cause serious damage and that's what happened," Rahul said with a lot of disappointment on his face.

"Death bowling is something that we need to work on. We have been conceding 20 runs extra towards the end and I think that cost us the game today," the right-handed batsman added, nailing the root cause for his side's loss.

Wickets are key in cricket and more so in Twenty20 cricket because set batsmen, with big muscular willows in their hands, can hurt you badly. A bit of analysis tells you that RCB have not managed to make regular inroads into the opposition ranks this season, barring a couple of games. Rahul revealed that lack of wickets is a concern for his side.

"Quite honestly, I feel the only way to stop runs in T20 cricket is to get wickets. We haven't got the wickets early on and put pressure on them (opposition). I think that's the only reason. It's big pressure to bowl in the death overs. We obviously sit in meetings and discuss what to do and once you are in the middle and with the pressure, sometimes you can't execute too well and that happens to all the teams," the 24-year-old opined.

Desperate to resolve their death bowling issues, Bangalore signed England bowler Chris Jordan as replacement for the injured Mitchell Starc, who was a key bowler for them last season. Jordan is known for his ability to nail the yorkers under pressure and Rahul, who was upbeat about his inclusion, also feels a couple of wins could turn things around for the side which is currently placed seventh on the points table.

"With Chris Jordan coming in from the next game, he's going to be a big inclusion to our bowling line-up and also he can smack a few lower down the order. Honestly I think our team is looking good. We just need to let these six games go and see how we can pick our