RR Skipper Rahul Dravid: We're Ready for CLT20

By Admin
Rahul-Dravid-Rajasthan-Royals-clt20-2013

The Rajasthan Royals will be starting their Karbonn Smart Champions League Twenty20 2013 campaign in their fortress, the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Semi-finalists in IPL 2013, the Rahul Dravid-led side will be one to watch out for in the main tournament. (Also Read: CLT20 2013 Squad - Rajasthan Royals (RR))

Keen to do well, the RR captain said, “You have to play six-seven matches for that (winning the tournament). If we keep up the performance that we had in the IPL and the spirit remains the same and if we play to our potential, I hope that we will stay in contention.”

Discussing his team’s preparation leading up to the tournament, Dravid said that they are ready. “Most of our boys have been playing cricket. If you talk about our international players, Shane Watson and James Faulkner have arrived after playing for Australia, while Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Menaria, Sanju Samson have been playing for India A/Under-23 India side, etc. At least eight-nine of the boys have been playing cricket continuously after the IPL.”

“We have been preparing, and you can’t prepare too much. Those who hadn’t practiced much had come a week before and we have been practicing. So we are ready,” he added. 

Speaking about the team’s success, coach Paddy Upton elaborated, “The whole Rajasthan Royals success and the way we built our team is around a team as opposed to individuals. The young players and the slightly lesser experienced or exposed players have played an integral role and certainly a lot of work that Rahul and myself do is to bring those young players into the fold to give them as much opportunity as possible. (We want) to encourage them and invite them to talk in team meetings to have their say and to make their own decisions and really be part of the team as opposed to having a team where there are a couple of superstars and the limelight is on them and they tell the youngsters what to do. The thing is having a team where everyone contributes, and that is what is really exciting for me.”

“I think we have been very fortunate that a lot of our campaign’s success is based around the success of the young players. There are a lot of them; Sanju Samson is exciting and he has done really nicely. Not that he is that young, but Dishant Yagnik has done nicely. He has played only one or two games and he is definitely not young, but Pravin Tambe has shown a lot of character and energy,” the coach added. 

The team is excited and looking forward to playing again in Jaipur. Dravid, who will be making an appearance for the last time for the Royals in this tournament, said that there is always an emotional attachment. “You want to play good cricket irrespective of the fact that it is your first or last tournament.”

“We have played well here. Boys are happy to play here. The crowd support is good. Our boys are comfortable here in Jaipur, so I hope we will put up a good performance this time as well. 

source: clt20.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Story behind Yusuf Pathan jersey No. '999'

By Admin
Image
Like in life, in sports too there are people who remain an enigma. At least to those who watch them from the outside. They fascinate and frustrate in equal measures. At times, one feels they are surviving on their reputation and not its execution. But these enigmatic geniuses often find someone who understands their worth, who believes in them as much as they believe in themselves. Yusuf Pathan is an enigma. Everyone knows of his supreme leather-pounding power and they love him for that. But to their dismay they don’t see that skill being converted into runs. But those close to him and his team mates see what others can’t. His Kolkata Knight Riders skipper, Gautam Gambhir, surely does.  Questions have been raised about Pathan’s place in the KKR Playing XI since the beginning of the 2012 IPL. And with every low score against his name, they have gotten louder. In IPL 2013, Pathan has played three matches so far and scored 18*, 0 and 27.  They’re not big scores but they’
Read more

Rohit Sharma 264 Runs - Report: India vs Sri Lanka, 4th ODI, Eden Gardens, Kolkata

By Admin
Image
Propelled by Rohit Sharma’s magnificent double-century, India marched to a 153-run win in Kolkata. While Eden Gardens celebrated 150 years, Rohit lit-up the stadium with a well paced 264 off 173 to make the occasion memorable. In doing so, he etched his name in the history books by posting the highest individual score in ODI cricket and became the only batsman to post two double hundreds in the 50-over format till date. It was breathtaking knock by the opener that set-up the match for India. The hosts then bowled the visitors out for 251 to take a 4-0 lead in the series.  (Also Read:  Rohit Sharma 264 Runs - Stats: India vs Sri Lanka, 4th ODI ) Post by Indian Cricket Team Updates . Coming out to open with Ajinkya Rahane after India elected to bat, Rohit made the Sri Lankans regret the missed chance to send him back when he was batting on four. The opener taking the aerial route was dropped by Thisara Perera at third-man.  Having received a life, Rohit who was back in the
Read more

INDIA v PAKISTAN 1ST ODI ᴴᴰ FULL HIGHLIGHTS, CHENNAI, 30 DEC 2012

By Admin
Image
FULL HD HIGHLIGHTS INDIA v PAKISTAN 1ST ODI, CHENNAI, 30 DEC 2012. Man-of-the-Match: MS Dhoni  for his 113-run knock that helped India set up a competitive total Brief scores: India   227/6 in 50 overs  (MS Dhoni 113*, S Raina 43, R Ashwin 31*, J Khan 4/43) lost to  Pakistan 228/4 in 48.1 overs  (N Jamshed 101*, Y Khan 58, S Malik 34*, B Kumar 2/27) by six wickets   Nasir Jamshed:   "It was a tough start when we lost Hafeez off the first ball, but we played out the tough period and now we are confident in this series." Misbah-ul-Haq:  "It was really good toss to win and the spell by Junaid Khan was very good. He has done it before in a Test match in Sri Lanka. Good to see that the bowlers pitched in the right areas in helping conditions. There was a change in the nature of the pitch. It was more difficult to play in the first half, very well played by Dhoni. But Nasir played an extremely good knock and showed the way by finishing the game. Humidity
Read more