IPL 2021: Narine will come into our calculations for the coming games, says McCullum

After stumbling to a 38-run loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) coach Brendon McCullum on Sunday said that his side could have bowled Varun Chakravarthy for an extra over at the start when Glenn Maxwell had just come out to bat.

IN PICS: From Harbhajan-Sreesanth slap gate to MS Dhoni's anger: Top IPL controversies through the years

Maxwell and AB de Villiers` knocks of 78 and 76 were backed up a spirited bowling performance as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 38 runs on Sunday here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Varun Chakravarthy had taken the wickets of Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar in his very first over, but skipper Eoin Morgan did not give him a consecutive second over even when Maxwell walked out to bat, and as fate had it, RCB scored 204/4 with Maxwell registering 78 runs.

"Yeah, look, in hindsight if we had our time again we probably would have bowled Varun Chakravarthy in the next over when Maxwell had just come out to bat. But look we were trying to save Varun`s overs for AB de Villiers as well when he came to the crease. In retrospect, we should have bowled him for another over but there were many other aspects where we couldn`t just tidy up which would have given us a much better chance against a confident team like RCB," said McCullum while replying to an ANI query during a virtual press conference.

When asked about Sunil Narine being called back into the KKR team, McCullum said: "Sunil Narine stood on the rope before our first game which means he has had an injury where he was not 100 per cent fit. He certainly comes into our calculations, he was touch and go for this game against RCB but we opted for Shakib who has been good for us and he gives us an extra bit of batting. After three games, the guys have played well, we have not got the results, we probably would need some fresh legs for slightly different wickets in Mumbai."

"We probably expect to make one or two changes in our next game, but overall I think, we have shown we have a good chance in this tournament if we tidy up. There was some tremendous batting from Maxwell and ABD on the surface which was probably the best we have seen in Chennai, but it was still tricky at times but both these batsmen took the surface out of the equation," he added.

Earlier, RCB might have been 9/2 in the second over, but Maxwell and de Villiers` knocks of 78 and 76 ensured that the side posts a total of 204/4 in the allotted twenty overs. Along with Maxwell and de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal and Kyle Jamieson also played knocks of 25 and 11 respectively. For KKR, Varun Chakravarthy returned with two wickets.

"In the past, we have not been made to plan much as Maxwell has not been in top form but it appears, he has come this year with a really refreshed attitude. He is taking the game on, we have seen him being successful in the Big Bash and Australia. He took the game away from us in a crunch situation but if we had our time again, we would have tried few different things," said McCullum.

KKR has now lost two games out of three and they will next take on MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Wednesday.