Abu Dhabi: Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) assistant coach Vijay Dahiya is hoping that his side will finish the Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 first phase in the UAE with a win against Rajasthan Royals at the Shaikh Zayed Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
“It’s our last game here and ideally we’d like to go home with three wins. If you look back, we’ve had a couple of close games. The last match, I think we should have won that [against Kings XI Punjab on Saturday], but that’s behind us and we want to finish strongly,” said the former India wicketkeeper, who figured in 19 One Day Internationals for India.
For KKR, the poor form of their skipper Gautam Gambhir is a big worry. In four matches, Gambhir has been out for a duck three times and only managed a single in the last match against Kings XI Punjab. However, it is unlikely that the skipper will step aside and give someone else a chance.
“I think he’s our best batsman, but there’s no two ways about it if your best batsman is not among the runs, that’s definitely a concern, but we know him. We’ve not seen him in that kind of a patch, but we’re confident that he will come out of it and it’ll be a different team when he starts scoring at the top,” said Dahiya.
“If you look at the numbers, you will see he’s our best batsman. So I don’t think there is even a single talk about his place in the side. We know what he can do for us and what he’s capable of and let’s not forget he’s led this team really well.”
Gambhir chose to come one down in the last match, but Dahiya was of the view that he should continue to open.
“Honestly, if you asked me, I think he’s an opener and I love to see him there. And I think that’s the way he would feel as well. If you talk about the pressure, it’s always going to be there. Imagine a scenario if it is two down and then he comes into bat — there would be more pressure on him,” said Dahiya, who also accepted that Yusuf Pathan’s poor shows with the bat are adding to their batting concerns.
“He also is aware of it and so is the team management. Let’s see how he goes in the next couple of games.”
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Stuart Binny emphasised the need to keep the momentum going and to finish their UAE engagements on a high.
“Especially with the way we are placed in the table, I think we have to go out and win tomorrow’s game. It is still very early in the tournament and we need to play good cricket and, hopefully, things will fall into place and we will go with a win,” said Binny, whose side is still undecided about their best opening combination.
“I won’t say our opening pair are a worry. Karun [Nair] is a young player and done well for Karnataka cricket and he will come good. We have changed a bit up and down, but I think out batting is pretty much solid. We know our roles and probably we can get better starts in future,” said Binny, who also feels they can even give the talented young Indian batsman Unmukt Chand a chance if needed.
“Unmukt is also an option, but it is important to assess the conditions and decide if to go in with a extra bowler or an extra batsmen,” said Binny, who is pretty happy with his own showing so far.
“I did well but I won’t say I’m satisfied with the way I have batted in the couple of games. I played some poor shots in two games and let the team down in winning situations. I have been batting well for the last six months and I want to get as many runs as possible and try and finish off more matches.”
