IPL 2020 the best RCB environment I have ever been a part of, states Virat Kohli

The dreams of a million RCB fans were shattered on Friday as the side bowed out of the 13th edition of the IPL but while there has been an understandable disappointment, the spark shown by the team this season - albeit in patches - has served as a ray of hope heading into the future. After finishing bottom in IPL 2019, the Reds were, remarkably, in contention for a top-two finish up until the final group game of this season and they were, arguably, the third-best side in the competition for a good part of the campaign. 

The camaraderie within the RCB camp, many believe, is what propelled the team to shrug ghosts of the past and start afresh this season and in his final dressing room speech for the IPL 2020 season, skipper Virat Kohli stated the same. In a video posted by RCB’s official Twitter handle, Kohli, speaking to the entire unit in the dressing room post the SRH defeat, claimed that he has never been a part of a better environment in his 13 years as an RCB player and asserted that the ‘never say die’ attitude shown by the team this season indicated that they are heading in the right direction.

“We spoke of creating memories as a team and I think we have done that a lot this season. And when we said this is probably the best environment we’ve played in, for RCB, we were damn right about it. It’s been an amazing time together,” Kohli said in a video posted by RCB’s Twitter Handle.

“I think the camaraderie is something that pushed us deep and far into the tournament. It is something we can be proud of and hold our head high. Even in the losses we never gave up, which I think is the most important thing which we hadn’t done in the last few seasons. There’s a positive there already that we’re heading in the right direction.”

After racking up seven wins in their first ten games and sitting mighty at second with not too many games left in the group stages, RCB’s season fell off a cliff as they lost five consecutive matches to bow out of the tournament prematurely. Kohli reckoned that RCB were not at their best starting from the Mumbai game in Abu Dhabi, but expressed delight in the showings of individuals such as Padikkal and Siraj and termed them as positives heading into the next season.

“I think we played some good, consistent cricket and fell off at the back end. Probably didn’t play our best cricket from the Mumbai game onwards that we played here. Would have loved to go even further, I know the fans wanted us to go even further. But a lot of positives this season - guys like Devdutt stepping up for the team, having a great season as an opener, Siraj coming back nicely after a tough season last year. A lot of positives is something we can definitely take forward.”

Meanwhile, Aaron Finch, who struck a handy 32 in the Eliminator, claimed that the RCB side of IPL 2020 was the best group he's ever been a part of.

“By far the best group I’ve been a part of, in the IPL. I think being in the bubble forced us all to be really close and really tight. It was an amazing experience.”