JOIN US'Anybody's game from here on'
“It’s a great thing for us considering what happened last year,” Kumble said after leading his team to a 12-run win over the Deccan Chargers and into the semifinals of IPL II. “We started well this year, then slumped to four losses in a row and then came back again.
“I am happy we have got into the semis. From here, anybody can win on their day. We back ourselves with the way we have played in the last four games. It’s been brilliant and we will take this confidence going into the semifinal,” he added.
The Bangalore skipper was full of praise for young Manish Pandey, who scored a brilliant 114 off just 73 balls to set the platform for the victory.
“It was a brilliant hundred,” Kumble gushed. “Manish had a few opportunities but didn’t get to bat. In the other games, he was batting lower down the order. We just took a chance and sent him up and he came off really well. The way he really batted was brilliant.”
He also lauded Balachandra Akhil for taking up the responsibility in the bowling department in Jacques Kallis’ absence.
Kallis left the field after bowling only one over due to a knee injury and in his absence, Akhil responded to his captain’s call picking up two crucial wickets for 18 runs.
“Defending 170 on a good wicket against Deccan was a brilliant effort,” Kumble said.
Meanwhile, losing skipper Adam Gilchrist admitted that his side was totally outplayed by the Royal Challengers.
“We were outplayed today. We aren’t as sharp as we would have liked to be. It would have been nice to have a positive result going into the semis.
“But now, we have got to freshen up our minds. It’s totally different with four teams in the race. Anyone can beat anyone else on their night,” Gilchrist said.
He also lauded Pandey for his magnificent batting and said the 19-year-old took the game away from the Chargers with his power hitting.
“It might be a one individual performance, it might be the whole team chipping in. We saw a fine hundred tonight and that took the game right from us,” the former Australian wicket-keeper said.