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Picking up the third straight win in four matches that hoisted his team to the top of the IPL-IV standings, Gautam Gambhir said it was the fruit of Kolkata Knight Riders' “professional approach”.
“It was a pretty good professional effort from the team,” said Gambhir after securing the second win in three days against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday night. “We discussed in the team meeting that we'll not be over confident and be professional and give our best,” he added.
Gambhir was specifically pleased with his bowling, which turned the match in the home side's favour. “With (Brett) Lee and Shakib (Al Hasan) in the team and with (Lakshmipathy) Balaji bowling brilliantly we have a very good bowling attack. Hopefully we can bring more joy to the city in the matches to come,” Gambhir said.
Balaji, who spearheaded the KKR bowling attack and was adjudged Man-of-the-match for his three-wicket haul, said the team was gradually going up the ladder of excellence. “We have the rhythm and are a very good side. We are climbing up the ladder and still have many matches. It is now important to keep up the momentum,” Balaji said.
Shane Warne, the Rajasthan Royals captain, was caustic about the way his team batted. “Our performance was weak, soft and embarrassing,” Warne said. “Our guys played pretty dumb sort of shots. It was actually kids against men at one stage,” the former Australian spinner was quite categorical about his team's batting debacle.
“Our preparation has been fantastic. I just don't know why we did not put up a good performance,” Warne said adding the absence of Rahul Draivd, who was injured, hampered the team's batting prospects. Taking a dig at the wicket of the Eden Gardens, Warne termed it “pretty ordinary” and not good enough to produce good cricket. The best came from the principal owner of KKR, Shah Rukh Khan. The Bollywood superstar, enjoying his team's success after a prolonged drought, had a mock session of cricket after the win. Shah Rukh, who bowled and batted on one of the spare pitches, had greats like Sunil Gavaskar and Warne as sparring partners.
“We have a tighter and younger unit which believes in unity. Most importantly they don't have ghosts of the past,” Shah Rukh said after the match.
“It was a pretty good professional effort from the team,” said Gambhir after securing the second win in three days against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday night. “We discussed in the team meeting that we'll not be over confident and be professional and give our best,” he added.
Gambhir was specifically pleased with his bowling, which turned the match in the home side's favour. “With (Brett) Lee and Shakib (Al Hasan) in the team and with (Lakshmipathy) Balaji bowling brilliantly we have a very good bowling attack. Hopefully we can bring more joy to the city in the matches to come,” Gambhir said.
Balaji, who spearheaded the KKR bowling attack and was adjudged Man-of-the-match for his three-wicket haul, said the team was gradually going up the ladder of excellence. “We have the rhythm and are a very good side. We are climbing up the ladder and still have many matches. It is now important to keep up the momentum,” Balaji said.
Shane Warne, the Rajasthan Royals captain, was caustic about the way his team batted. “Our performance was weak, soft and embarrassing,” Warne said. “Our guys played pretty dumb sort of shots. It was actually kids against men at one stage,” the former Australian spinner was quite categorical about his team's batting debacle.
“Our preparation has been fantastic. I just don't know why we did not put up a good performance,” Warne said adding the absence of Rahul Draivd, who was injured, hampered the team's batting prospects. Taking a dig at the wicket of the Eden Gardens, Warne termed it “pretty ordinary” and not good enough to produce good cricket. The best came from the principal owner of KKR, Shah Rukh Khan. The Bollywood superstar, enjoying his team's success after a prolonged drought, had a mock session of cricket after the win. Shah Rukh, who bowled and batted on one of the spare pitches, had greats like Sunil Gavaskar and Warne as sparring partners.
“We have a tighter and younger unit which believes in unity. Most importantly they don't have ghosts of the past,” Shah Rukh said after the match.