KL Rahul: If we learn to handle pressure better, we will be among top teams

Punjab Kings skipper KL Rahul says his team can make the IPL playoffs consistently if it learns to handle pressure better and not lose games from commanding positions Punjab Kings who tend to snatch defeat from jaws of victory beat Kolkata Knight Riders here on Friday to keep their playoff hopes aliveIll take the two points said Rahul at the postmatch presentation when asked about his side being part of another tense finish KKR made 165 for seven and Punjab got home with three balls to spareWe played it smartly Realised it was a decent wicket and cant experiment too much We went slightly defensive with the ball There wasnt much spin and wanted to make the batters hit to the bigger side With the bat also weve given clear roles to the players Obviously we want to finish games The win will give us confidence and hopefully well build on it said Rahul who scored a matchwinning 67 KL Rahul had to leave out spinner Harpreet Brar who has done well for the team These are things that kill me as a captain Dont want to leave out the Indian boys With a heavy heart had to leave Harpreet out Had to see what would be our best XI with Chris Gayle leaving the bubble He also praised Shahrukh Khan who finished the game for Punjab Shahrukh has been batting brilliantly in the nets Saw how strong he is in the first phase Hes asking a lot of questions and wanting to finish gamesToday he played proper cricket shots got a few boundaries and we all know he can hit the ball a long way He can finish games has done it for Tamil Nadu Asked about the playoff changes he added Often weve put too much pressure on ourselves Everybody knows we are a far better team Putting too much pressure on ourselves is not helping Every game weve fought till the end If we can handle pressure we will be among the top teams he added KKR skipper Eoin Morgan said fielding let them downInitially we didnt field that well we put catches down myself early and other guys It has cost us When the game gets that tight towards the end extra few wickets down would have helped us Equally I thought we fought hard batted really well and probably had a par score Talking about Rahul Tripathis catch of the Punjab skipper in the 19th over not being adjudged clean by the third unpire Morgan said I thought in real time it was out Obviously when you slow things down and analyse it that the third umpire thought otherwise and his decision is made thats final and we need to get on with it But it would have been nice if we had got that wicket I think everyone that went out there found it difficult to get going initially it was not an easy wicket to start on But after having a strong 1314 overs we didnt capitalize on that platformOpener Venkatesh Iyer was among the runs again and has been the find of the season for KKR Hes a real find for us has been with us the whole campaign and we have watched him in practice above all his attitude is fantastic for a guy that plays fearlessly as he does with the bat He takes a lot of responsibility with the ball Dre Russ leaves a huge gap in the allrounder position for us but to have someone come in and contribute is really outstanding We have played some great cricket in the second half and have some positives to take away from tonight as well Two more games to go we will fight hard and hopefully get a couple of good results and be in the Playoffs he addedCheck out all the latest news and updates on IPL 2021This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliabilitsy and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever