We can make it to the top four: Gautam Gambhir

When Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir speaks, he speaks with a lot of positivity and intent. The same kind of attitude that he would want from his side, especially after their back to back losses in the tournament as they face Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. 

When asked how Gambhir plans to keep his side motivated after suffering consecutive losses; Gambhir replied “Wearing the KKR jersey is a big motivation in itself. If you are not able to motivate yourself wearing this KKR jersey you do not deserve to be sitting in the dressing room! There are many more people dying to get into the dressing room wearing this jersey.” 

I do not think I have to motivate them to get the best out of them, they have to motivate themselves. I know we have not performed the way we would have liked, but this is part and parcel of the game. Things can change very quickly. One good innings, even one or two strokes can turn things on their head,” added the captain as he addressed the press here at Kolkata.

It is a no brainer that batting has been the biggest problem for the Knight Riders in this tournament. Their middle order has barely got going while their top order has failed to fire and then there has always been a question of when Brendon McCullum would feature in the playing eleven? 

For that, Gambhir said, “We have to see how we can fit in Brendon McCullum. It is difficult to replace two quality spinners (Sunil Narine and Senanayake) who have been the silver lining for us till now in the tournament after Eoin Morgan. Morgan has been in very good form and I feel he has been hitting the ball the best. It is a difficult choice to make whether you want McCullum up the order or whether you want a finisher in the middle order. At the moment our middle order hasn’t clicked, but at least with the presence of Morgan there is someone who is out there getting runs for us.”

Gambhir also believed playing Debabrata Das brought a lot more balance to the side. “Debabrata Das gives us a better balance. Das is someone who can give us that explosive power which we need in the middle overs. He is a clean striker of the ball. It was because of Das, who keeps wickets and bats at No.6, that we could get Yusuf Pathan to bat at the top of the order. We might change it tomorrow but that is one combination that we can always consider. You always need more options like these in the competition. The more options you have the better it is for the captain.”

Mumbai Indians have a power packed batting line up and KKR’s bowling abilities will be tested come Wendesday. When asked if KKR have a set plan for certain individuals in the team, Gambhir replied, “We would like to contain the entire team and not concentrate on certain individuals. We will take Mumbai Indians as a batting unit and whatever bowling attack we feel is the best to restrict them, we will stick to that.”

KKR have just four points from six games and it is time they raised their game and start winning to keep their hopes alive in the tournament. Gambhir though, believed his side was positive of making it to the top four. 

“I am pretty confident that we will bounce back and make it to the top four. We want to go out there and play fearless cricket. We will be positive when we play Mumbai Indians tomorrow.”

source: iplt20.com