Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who smashed an unbeaten 84 off 48 balls, was about to finish yet another run-chase in style but finally ran out of luck as Royal Challengers Bangalore pulled out a stunning one-run win.
"Feels good to win a game by a small margin. We've lost a couple by small margins. MS did what he does best and he gave us all a massive scare. Off the last ball, that was the last thing I would have expected to happen. There was a whole lot of emotion," Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Kohli was all praise for Saini, who is one of the five stand-bys for the ODI World Cup in England as well as the designated net bowler.
"They (bowlers) showed a lot of composure playing against a side like CSK. We were outstanding with the ball until the 19th over mark. Defending 160 on that sort of pitch and the amount of dew we had was an outstanding effort.
"Especially Saini, playing his first season (he was in the side last season but didn't play). He's shown a lot of heart. He bowls with pace and understands his limitations. He's come along well for the team. Hope he keeps fit and keeps bowling fast which is his biggest strength," the skipper had good words for the youngster.
Kohli said that the track wasn't a typical Chinnaswamy wicket, where 200 runs is there for the taking.
"In the first six overs, we thought the ball wasn't coming onto the bat that much. PP (Parthiv) and AB (De Villiers) started to rebuild. At the halfway mark, we thought 175 would've been a very good total on this pitch. We thought we were 15 short."
Qualification for the play-offs is still a distant dream considering they have to win all four and wait for favourable results.