IPL 2020: We couldn’t soak in the pressure: Skipper KL Rahul after KXIP lost out on a playoff berth

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Bengaluru, Nov. 1: Hunt for a maiden IPL title continues for the Kings XI Punjab as they fell to a nine-wicket win against the Chennai Super Kings at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Playing in their final league game of the season, the Punjab side needed to notch up a win against Chennai to keep their playoff chances alive.

But the agonising loss to CSK brought the curtains down on Punjab’s season.

After their loss, skipper KL Rahul said the team failed to live up to the pressure. “We didn’t bat really well. Big pressure game. We expected 180-190. We couldn’t soak in the pressure,” said Rahul at the post match presentation ceremony.

The KL Rahul-led side scripted a phenomenal story, but they couldn’t end on a positive note. After languishing at the bottom of the table in the first half of the season, Punjab completely turned around their season as they notched up five wins on the trot.

But their winning run came to a halt once again as two back-to-back losses saw their playoff chances come to an end. Speaking about their season, the skipper said he was proud of what the team did in the second half of the season.

“We didn't have the results going our way in the first half. The team still felt like we were playing good cricket. We were patchy. The bowling and batting wasn't coming together in the first half, proud that we did it in the second half,” Rahul said after Punjab’s final game of the season.

Close matches, wrong decisions and super overs. This has been KXIP’s story. And talking about the takeaways from the season, Rahul said that though there were a lot of positives, the team had themselves to blame for losing the close matches.

“Lots to be proud of as a team. A lot of 'could have been’. It is disappointing. We had a lot of games in our pockets and we couldn't get over the line and we only have ourselves to blame. That short run game too, looks like it has come back to bite us,” signed off the Punjab skipper.

Punjab ended the season with 12 points from 14 matches.