JOIN USSymonds over hurt us: Kumble
Chasing 144 to win, Bangalore were taking good strides towards the target but the Australian all rounder tilted the balance in favour of Deccan with his twin-strike.
The final match defeat naturally rankles but Kumble took solace from the fact that they reached the summit clash after a not so inspiring start.
“Obviously it hurts when you reach the final and... But I think 143 was gettable on this track with our batting line-up. We were cruising but I think those two wickets in two balls didn’t help our cause.
“I think we should have had some decent partnership when we came really close. I think that is really disappointing. If you look at the whole tournament I think the way we bounced back and came to the final was really incredible,” said Kumble.
Kumble said the responsibility of leading the team brought the best out of him.
“When captaincy came after Kevin had to go back – that was a challenge for me and it really helped my game and gave me a new challenge and a new dimension to handle the team with various internationals there and you know it was different.
“Twenty20 is a different game because it is really fast paced. I thought I did pretty well. Personally it was very good but from team’s perspective it was brilliant. It would have been nice if we would have won today. But I think credit to the way we played right through the tournament,” Kumble said.
Bangalore, the team that was laughed off as a bunch of Test cricketers in the inaugural edition did remarkably well this season.
On being asked what turned around the things for them, he said, “Not rocket science really. It is just that you try and encourage everyone to go out there and enjoy. It is a Twenty20 game and you need to back yourself and probably may be really brave and back yourself.
“So, we played really bravely and encouraged everyone to go out there and enjoy. It is exactly what we have tried to do in the last three or four weeks. And everyone responded really well. We reached the final.”
Kumble did not forget to mention about the contribution made by coach Ray Jennings in team’s stupendous show.
“He has brought a lot of experience of South Africa. The boys have rallied around him. I would also like to thank the coaching staff. We had a good bunch and we worked really hard,” he said.