KKR in the race for play-offs: Gambhir

Despite having won just four out of 11 games, Kolkata Knight Riders’ captain Gautam Gambhir is confident that his team will be able to beat Mumbai Indians in Tuesday’s IPL encounter and stay in contention for the play-offs.

“We are very much in the race. I haven’t heard anyone say that we’re out. A lot of people are saying that we need to win five out of five. But if you see in the last three years teams have qualified in the top four with eight wins,” said Gambhir, putting up a brave face as his team prepares to take on the mighty Mumbai Indians.

“We’re not thinking about the play-offs right now but we want to win as many games as we can from here,” added the left-hander ahead of the crucial game. Gambhir did not agree with the suggestion that the must-win situation the team finds itself in could be a blessing in disguise in making his players more determined.

“Whether its the start or the end of a tournament, we always go out there to win. The desperation is always there. Till now, we have approached every game with the same hunger and desperation and its not that only because we are in a position like this that we are desperate to win.

“We have to look at the remaining games like any other game rather than thinking it is a must-win game,” said Gambhir, who is the leading scorer for his team with 320 runs.