There is enough talent in KKR ranks and only the players can change the team's fortunes
There is enough talent in KKR ranks and only the players can change the team's fortunes
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Knight Riders |
The batters need to stand up. There is enough talent in the dressing room, but it is time to deliver.
There is a lot of cricket left in the tournament, before it decides the semi-finalists.
It's up to the playing members, because only they decide the fortunes of the game.
I've been hitting the ball well, both in the warm-up matches and in the two games. Hopefully, I'll be able to continue and get the team into winning positions.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
It was a disappointing game against Mumbai Indians on Monday. To be honest, we were completely outplayed.
Right from the start, it was a good toss to win on that ground because it does a bit in Port Elizabeth in the night and the lights too, are not the best for a day-night game.
We didn't play well enough to deserve a win in this game. Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya completely took the game from us in the first 10 overs. They batted superbly and showed once again that even in the T20 format, runs can be scored by playing proper cricket shots.
They targeted the smaller parts of the boundary which were less than even 50 metres, but they still executed the shots well enough to clear it consistently. Both were pretty serious on Ajantha Mendis, but to be fair, even some of the miss-hits sailed over the ropes. The strategic break has become an important part of the game as a lot of teams have lost momentum during that period.
At the break, the Mumbai Indians were well set to get past 200 or even 220, but I thought we came back well to restrict them to 187.
Laxmi Ratan Shukla bowled outstandingly in that situation along with Brad Hodge and Mendis, who were asked to bowl from the longer end.
We did manage to pull it back. A total of 187 was a big one to chase, especially under lights and also when the temperature drops considerably at night. It just spices the wicket up a bit, and gives that extra edge to the fast bowlers.
For me, the two best bowlers of the tournament so far have been Fidel Edwards and Lasith Malinga, who has come back from injury fitter and stronger.
He's got a completely different sort of an action, which makes it harder to pick for a batsman, but he has become even more accurate with his variations of pace and that yorker.
He was ably supported by Zaheer Khan.
I thought Sachin captained the side very well; he knew exactly which bowlers to bowl from which end which is important in grounds with shorter boundaries. Nonetheless, he was also assisted by his bowlers.
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