“RCB off ventilator but still in ICU”: Former India star’s award-worthy comment on Virat Kohli’s team cricket news

Former India all-rounder Ajay Jadeja believes that Royal Challengers Bangalore’s bowlers have started working together to take his team “out of the ventilator”, but the team is looking for ways to get things done after their nervous win over Gujarat Titans. Still remains “in ICU”. RCB chased down a modest target of 148 against GT on Saturday and won with four wickets and 38 balls to spare, a victory which was dictated by its bowlers. Faf du Plessis (64) and Virat Kohli (42) stitched a 92-run partnership inside the powerplay, but RCB lost a ton of wickets – slipping from 92/0 to 117/6 – leaving Gujarat with a chance to pull off an unexpected win. Found real hope.

“There are cracks in the armour, what exactly happened. But there is a chance. He is off the ventilator but he is still in the ICU,” Jadeja told Geo Cinema.

“We are excited about today’s match after watching Virat and Faf bat. But the real work was done by the bowlers, an aspect in which RCB have historically struggled.

“The bowling department has started to click for them now, and we’re talking about the business end of the season, that’s the point where the real possibility of winning comes from momentum….” Jadeja said RCB may have found momentum after their win which took them to seventh place in the IPL points table, but qualifying for the playoffs remains a “very tough ask”.

“More than pace, it is about the mentality of the team where you know that if you are in a bad situation, someone will get you out of it… Today, it looked like RCB chose the right path while Gujarat were on the other Was and. Who will reach their goal? That’s still a very difficult question,” he said.

However, the former India cricketer was impressed by RCB’s aggressive approach with the bat while chasing a small target.

“They came to the game differently from the beginning. I haven’t checked the stats, but I’ve never seen him start a game with a six. Not one, but two of them, in the first over, when there was no need,” he said.

“What Faf did was work at a different pace. Later on, there was some excitement in the match but at no point did it feel like it (the GT win) was going to be successful,”

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