JOIN USNotwithstanding their successive losses in IPL-9, Gujarat Lions would look to come back strong in the upcoming matches starting with the clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday, wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik said here on Thursday.
“Yes, obviously, we were a little upset after our last game. We were expecting to do a little better than that. But, the good thing is we’ve got all the boys together and we have now, kind of realised where may be we could have gone wrong and we will try and correct those mistakes and put up a brilliant show in the next couple of games,” he said in the pre-match press conference.
Acknowledging that Sunrisers Hyderabad is a good bowling side, Karthik said his team would like to put its best foot forward.
“It’s going to be an interesting battle. Obviously, they are a good bowling side and we will look to match up to them and do the best that we can,” he said. Karthik said the team would not like to make any sudden changes because couple of games have not gone their way.
“Obviously, we had two tough games. Batting being our obvious strength compared to bowling, we have not lived up to expectations and in a long term tournament like this, these things are bound to happen,” he said.
“What’s important is to keep the same approach in terms of batting and attitude, keep believing and it is important that you don’t start changing things, because things have not gone your way for two games,” he said.
Karthik is pleased with the performance of Gujarat’s key all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in recent matches.
“Our middle order, when compared to openers, it’s not been on par. It is a different role. It is pretty difficult as middle order batsmen come in when run-rate is so high and keep going at the same rate,” Karthik said.
“You take time and consolidate over there. That’s what you try to do ideally. Sometimes, when the wicket is good, you try to keep going at the same pace. At this stage, the good thing is Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) is on first class game which is a great plus for us.
“He is a very, very important cricketer for us and he forms the crux of the team in the middle order. Once, Bravo gets going, it is only a matter of time ... I am confident if those two get going, then we are on track,” he said.