IPL 2021: Kohli lauds Chakaravarthy, says 'he's going to be a key factor when he plays for India'

Abu Dhabi [UAE], September 20 : Royal Challengers Banglore captain Virat Kohli was all praise for Kolkata Knight Riders bowler Varun Chakaravarthy, who helped KKR in registering their third win of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season here at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Andre Russell and Varun Chakaravarthy heroics with the ball was followed by masterful batting from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) opening batsmen as they crushed Royal Challengers Banglore (RCB) by 9 wickets, chasing the target of 92 in just 10 overs.
Virat Kohli during the post-match presentation said: "(On Varun Chakravarthy) Pretty good, that's exactly what I was saying in the dug-out, he's going to be a key factor when he plays for India. We need to see performances like these from all the youngsters so that the bench strength of Indian cricket stays strong. And, he's someone who is going to play in the near future for India and it's a great sign."
Kohli also shed some light on the dew factor as he said: "It was important to get a good partnership on this surface. We honestly didn't expect that much dew to kick in so early, we couldn't have predicted that. It looked like a good wicket to bat on first up. We were 42-odd for one and then lost about five wickets within 20 runs from there, which is a very difficult situation to come back from. Bit of a collapse there for us, bit of a wake-up call and might as well have this at the start of the second leg so that we know exactly what we need to work on."
RCB skipper also stated the importance of adjusting to the formats of the game. He said: "As professional cricketers, you are expected to turn up and adjust to the formats, that's the dynamic of world cricket today. We have never found any troubles doing that but sometimes it can take you a game to get into the tournament. You have to stay with the 8-ball, especially in this format. If not, then the other team is going to be all over you. You can't afford to lose four or five wickets within 20 runs."
"We have five wins from eight games, we expect a loss here and there in this tournament. That's part and parcel of things. You have to take it in your stride like you take your victories in your strides as well. We just need to be professional and stick to our strengths and make sure that we execute the plans that we have properly on the field. We have absolute confidence on this squad that we'll be able to pull up from the next game onwards and put in strong performances," he added.
Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer played innings of 48 and 41 respectively for Knight Riders. Meanwhile, Yuzvendra Chahal got the only wicket for the RCB in the game. With this victory, KKR has registered their third win of the season while RCB suffered their third defeat of IPL 2021.