New Delhi: Gautam Gambhir was a disappointed man as he fronted the media after the comprehensive home defeat to Kings XI Punjab, during which he suffered another run out calamity.
Excerpts:
On whether the wicket was a bad one or if the defeat was just down to the team’s performance: We played badly, because, batting first, winning the toss, it was very important and even if wickets fell early we should have at least scored 140-150. I think we were pretty below-par as a team.
On this being one of their worst performances in the IPL so far: If you look at it, 111 is the lowest [score] of the tournament. And if we have made it, then it has to be the worst game. The way we started with 40 runs in four overs and then ended up with only 111 in spite of having nine batsmen in the team. I think it was pretty below-par.
On the pitch: The pitch was obviously on the slower side and has been so in all the matches at Delhi, always on the slower side, so [it was not] like the pitch was very different. We still should have got around 160-170, it was a wicket where we could have easily got 160-170.
On how they rate their chance of reaching the semi-finals: We just want to think about the next game, which is very important, rather than thinking that we need to win two out of three. The important thing is to concentrate on the next game and try and pull our socks up because we had the momentum. We have given it up after the Calcutta game and today the way we performed. I think we need to pull our socks up and try and play a as a team, not only in one department but in all three and we don’t want to get a situation where we need to win two out of two and get into a desperate situation. So the important thing is to just give everything we have in the next game and try and win that, try and get the momentum back.
On the team not clicking together as a unit: I think you are saying this because we have lost two games, the last games. Before that we won three or four in a row and everyone was saying that we were playing as a team. So suddenly when you don’t win people start talking that you are not contributing as a unit, you are not playing as a unit and that’s what I think, everyone starts talking. But I personally feel it’s just one of the days where none of the departments clicked, whether it was the batting, the bowling. I still feel there weren’t enough runs on the board, we should have [got] at least 140-150, and then [we] could have analysed the bowling. I still feel that today was just one of those days, where we just didn’t play well as a team, but if you see before that we have played as a team, even against Kolkata when we were chasing 180 we managed to get 160 plus. I think we were playing as a team but it is just those last two games where we lost momentum.
On whether he personally approves of such a slow wicket that is played on at the Kotla: (Laughs) I think I would prefer playing away games for sure. I think those are much better wickets as a batsman and as a bowler. I would love to play away games because those are the wickets where there is value for shots and you know what kind of form you are in and, as a bowler as well, there is an even contest. If you see Calcutta, Bangalore, you have got value for shots, you can play some big hits, but when you play on these kinds of tracks it gets very difficult to go big and you really have to accumulate runs. That is not what Twenty20 is all about, Twenty20 is all about hitting big shots, hitting boundaries and sixes. But this is the wicket where you really need to graft, I think. I personally feel I would definitely want to play away games because those are much better wickets than what it is here.
On the batting order and whether he should open: I think that depends on the team combination, we have always tried to keep the best combination, which is best suited on these wickets, in these conditions. Obviously [I’ve] never opened in a Twenty20 match but would like to open. But the important thing is what is best for the team and we have tried to do that always because the team genuinely comes first rather than my personal thinking that I want to open or I don’t want to open. [The] important thing is that we want to end up winning the game, let’s see what happens in the next game, we want to just sit down and discuss what the best combination for the next game is. But if you personally ask me I would love to open.
On getting run out again: Three [times] in a row, it’s very frustrating and the way I was hitting the ball today and the way I got run out against Calcutta, I would say it was a blunder on my part because it was my call in Calcutta. So very frustrating, especially when you get those starts and it is very difficult to get those starts and then end up getting run out. If you try hitting a big shot and then end up losing your wicket you still feel you know, yeah, I will decide to go for a big one and it just didn’t click. Run outs are another thing. You would never want to get run out, especially in a Twenty20 game, because its bang-bang stuff so I think it is pretty frustrating and hopefully it doesn’t become four in a row.
No comments:
Post a Comment