MS took the game away: Bangar

"It was a disappointing end to the season. We wanted to finish off with a win. We do believe that we played good cricket and we can never doubt the efforts of the players," Kings XI coach Bangal said after his team suffered a four-wicket loss to RPS in its last IPL game.

Dhoni played a game-changing innings to help RPS end on a winning note in an otherwise dismal season.

Kings XI Punjab coach Sanjay Bangar said M.S. (Dhoni) took the game away with his sensational batting.

Speaking after his team suffered a four-wicket defeat at the hands of Rising Pune Supergiants in its last IPL game, Bangar said: "It was a disappointing end to the season. We wanted to finish off with a win. We do believe that we played good cricket and we can never doubt the efforts of the players.”

“It is a fact that we did not play to the desired level this season. We have to remember that we lost four to five games which we should have won, especially the ones against KKR (which we lost by five runs) and RCB (lost by one run),” the disappointed coach pointed out.

Bangar did not agree that the foreign players’ failure this season put pressure on the Indian players. “As professionals, they would be as hurt as others. We cannot doubt any player’s commitment and efforts. It is heartening that we did compete in most of the games,” he said.

For his part, Pune Supergiants coach Stephen Fleming said they were all disappointed with the team’s overall performance this season. “We cannot mask our dismal run this season with the finish we had here. Yes, MS was persuaded, given more confidence to finish off the game tonight. Hats off to his unbelievable faith in himself in farming the strike in the slog overs. You can’t find fault with that,” Fleming commented.

“We have been good but not outstanding. Missing those special moments, especially match-winning innings. Steve Smith produced a couple and MS tonight. That is the difference between winning and losing,” he observed.

“When you look back, it does hurt when you look at the five games which we lost in the last over. It would have been much better had we won those games,” the Pune coach said.

“Yes, the spate of injuries did mean we lose four out of the six options we had in formulating our strategy which had to be subsequently changed. Losing a home ground was a big challenge There are some positives,” he said.

On being the coach next season too, Fleming said the franchisee would look at all the factors and analyse things before taking a final call.