JOIN USWith his side failing to chase a modest 135 to win, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir on Sunday warned of making drastic changes to the side if seniors fail to perform again.
Opted to bowl, Kolkata rode on a superb 5/19 by Sunil Narine to restrict Kings XI Punjab to 134 for nine the but lost the match by two runs. The left-hander was highly critical of his batsmen.
“How can I say in a press conference that I am happy with their form. I’ve some experienced players and they need to take up responsibility. Otherwise there would be the need to take some strong and drastic decisions,” Gambhir said
“I am obviously pretty disappointed with the performance. The way we started in the first six overs, we should have chased it down. But it’s a worrying sign if you end up losing these kind of games,’’ he added.
Gambhir also said the loss of form by Yusuf Pathan, who is yet to fire for the team, is a worrying sign.
“He needs to deliver to be very honest. He just cant keep playing these kind of shots. He is an important player for us. Hope he can get back to runs as soon as possible. I’ve lot of faith in him. He is a big match player. Hopefully he can end up winning a couple of games which is very important for us,’’ Gambhir said.
Gambhir, however was all-praise for his bowlers. “The way we restricted them to 134 for nine was a nice effort. I could not have asked for more. It was a fantastic effort. I can’t really say it was a poor day. We played well in patches.”
Pitted against the same opposition at Mohali in the next outing, Gambhir was hopeful of a better show.
“It’s still a long way to go. We need to get the momentum back. Hopefully we can try and win our away game (against Punjab on April 18) and carry the momentum to Cuttack (against Deccan Chargers on April 22). The Eden track might not look conducive to batting but Gambhir said it was fair enough and said Kings XI Punjab too had their win on a green top which was not ideal for T20 format.
“I’ve said again and again that let’s not talk about wickets. The green wicket on which Kings XI got their win in the previous match was not a good T20 wicket either. “I feel it was a very good wicket to bat on. Ball was coming on nicely to the bat. It (the loss) has nothing to do with the wicket,’’ Gambhir added.