NEWS
Follow UsCricket is a team sport but individuals do make a massive difference to a setup. After lingering in the bottom half of the table over the last two years, the arrival of Gautam Gambhir has put a spring in Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) steps this season.
Gambhir’s idealogy of playing an aggressive brand of cricket has rubbed off on the Knight Riders, who now top the table after their 98-run win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Sunday (May 5).
One of the key bowlers for the Knight Riders this season has been Harshit Rana, who has shown a knack for picking up important wickets, with 14 wickets in the season, averaging 21. In the post-match press conference, Rana pointed out that KKR’s ability to read the wickets well benefitted them in Lucknow.
“We read the wicket really well, we knew what lengths that we should target. We benefitted from that. Throughout the season, we have worked hard to play Gautam Gambhir’s style of cricket because he has the knowledge to turn the game in our favour,” Rana, who finished with figures of 3/24, said.
“As a bowler, he (Gambhir) has only advised us to bowl the right length, depending on the conditions. He advised us not to do anything extravagant but stay focused. We have played good cricket because we have read the wickets well,” he added.
While KKR’s entire bowling fired, it was a rather sombre night for Mitchell Starc, who went for 11 runs an over in his spell. But Rana was unfazed by Starc blowing hot and cold, stating that the team trusts in Starc’s abilities blindly.
“There’s no doubt over Mitchell Starc’s abilities. It doesn’t matter if he’s not picking wickets or going for runs, we trust him to do the job for us. Even in the last game, he picked up wickets. There’s no doubt whatsoever it makes no difference. He is a very senior player, and he keeps helping us,” he added.
On the other hand, LSG’s Naveen-ul-Haq wasn’t too pleased with his side’s batting efforts, insisting that it was the ‘best batting surface’ that LSG have had at home all season. “This was the best batting surface that we have had in Lucknow this year, they bowled really well, and we batted poorly. It wasn’t like there were anything in the wicket for the bowlers. We just didn’t execute our plans well with the bat,” Naveen said in the post-match press conference.
“There is always going to be a scoreboard pressure. The pressure is an added thing. It happens, every team has a bad day, we can’t reverse the loss against KKR, we just have to work on the areas needed and turn up better next time,” he added.
Lucknow were on the receiving end of a stellar batting display from Sunil Narine, who scored a 39-ball 81, including six fours and seven sixes. LSG’s bowlers were constantly under the pump and were severely criticized for their bowling approach against the West Indian batter. However, Naveen did not have any of that, stating that the bowling unit tried their best to curtail Narine.
“We mixed up everything possible for Narine but he played an excellent knock, and played great cricketing shots that we couldn’t counter. He was properly middling it, he has been middling it from the start of the season. It was a great knock from him.”
