IPL 2021: Rahul wants Punjab Kings to play 'fearless cricket' despite batting collapse in powerplay

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 17 (ANI): Punjab Kings might have lost their second game in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) but skipper KL Rahul wants his side to learn from the mistake they made against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and bounce back stronger in the tournament.
Right-arm pacer Deepak Chahar picked four wickets before Faf du Plessis and Moeen Ali helped CSK register an easy win over Punjab Kings here at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday evening.
Chahar had run through Punjab Kings' top-heavy batting order dismissing Mayank Agarwal and Nicholas Pooran for a duck while sending back Chris Gayle and Deepak Hooda for 10 runs respectively.
"There's not much more to say. If any team loses five wickets in the first seven or eight overs, it's always going to be catch up. They bowled well, we played some bad shots, that's how the game goes," Rahul told host broadcaster Star Sports after the match.
"It (pitch) was a lot more sticky and tacky than what it looked like. Credit to the CSK bowlers, they bowled in the right channels, Deepak with his knuckle balls got a couple of wickets, getting myself run-out doesn't help the team," he further said.
"Just the way we started, the pitch was still okay, it wasn't a 100-110 wicket, maybe 150-160 sort of a wicket. But it's a good learning for us, hopefully we can learn from these mistakes and come back stronger in the next game," Rahul added.
Punjab Kings had scored more than 200 runs in their first game but the Rahul-led side wasn't even able to cross the 110-run mark against CSK on Friday.
"Last game we got 220, this game we couldn't get even half of it. It's important that we learn from our mistakes and that's the sort of team we want to be. We still want to go out there and play fearless cricket," said Rahul.
"It's T20 cricket, more often than not you'll score big runs but there'll be one or two games in a season where you lose wickets like this. It's important that we take it on the chin and move forward and get better next game," he added.
Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson might have bowled well against CSK but the two bowlers were expensive in Punjab Kings' opening game in the IPL 2021.
"The first game didn't go too well for those two (Richardson and Meredith), it was their first game and I am sure they were a bit nervous. That was the chat after the game as well, that's how IPL goes. It can be tough and cruel. Their plans were clear, they did execute it pretty well," said Rahul.
"It was good to see that they came back stronger this game and they gave us crucial breakthroughs. We'd like to review ourselves on the key points that we speak about before the game and if we stuck to those plans," he added.
Punjab Kings will next lock horns with Delhi Capitals here at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday. (ANI)