Abu Dhabi, October 21: Virat Kohli on Wednesday (October 21) was chuffed that his plan to hand over new ball to Mohammed Siraj worked well. Siraj picked up three wickets as Royal Challengers Bangalore hammered Kolkata Knight Riders by 8 wickets in an IPL 2020 match.
Even though the decision was taken on a short notice, Kohli said the entire move was the end result of having a deep-thinking group behind the scene.
"We have a Plan A, we have a Plan B, we have a Plan C. We are here to execute the plans that we have in place. We did a few things at the auction too, which is paying off. You can have all the plans, but you have to have belief. The management has set in a culture where there is proper planning. It is not random," said Kohli in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Kohli said giving Siraj the new ball was a rather quick decision taken keeping the conditions in mind.
"I was thinking Washington for the new ball. It was a good toss to lose because as we would also have batted first. The plan was to bowl Washington and Morris, but then we thought let's go with Morris and Siraj. Last year Siraj had a tough year and a lot of people went hard at him. This year he has worked hard and was bowling well in the nets. He has seen the results now but we want him to keep following the process," Kohli detailed.
Morris also exerted pressure on Kolkata batsmen dishing out a parsimonious spell with the new ball and he had also bowled a maiden second over as RCB became the first team to bowl three maidens in an IPL game.
"Morris is living the responsibility. He is the guy who likes to take the leadership role. His energy is amazing. He can contribute with the bat and ball and on the field," said Kohli.