Ganguly: ‘We were rubbish’

Bengaluru: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly was an angry man after a forgettable day on the field for his team against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Here's more from his interaction with the media.

Excerpts:

On getting a good start yet not capitalising on it: Yes, we did, 100 in 11 overs and from there to get to 160, it’s pretty ordinary actually. I thought we played good cricket for the first 10 overs and for the next 30 we were just absolutely rubbish.

On where they went wrong: We were rubbish, boss, that’s just one line. For the next 30 overs we were just absolutely rubbish.

On where they go from here: We [have] got to play better cricket. [If] we play cricket like this [then] we don’t deserve to be in the semi-finals. There are better teams who are playing better cricket than us. We have to get there first, let’s win cricket matches and play better and score runs.

On the poor performances by the youngsters: Yes, absolutely, absolutely. Some of these guys need to look at themselves and they play good cricket, they want to play good cricket and they were just pathetic.

On the positives from this match: Not really much. The first 10 overs we were good after that, as I said, we were very, very, ordinary.

On Ishant Sharma and his poor form: You [have] got to ask him that question.

On the fielding: Well, I don’t mind losing, but we were pathetic on the field, let’s be honest and I can talk, I can lift them up but they have to lift themselves up as well - I can’t go and field for them, I can’t go and bowl for them. Probably when I was playing for India I had some serious talent to look after and that probably helped and hopefully these guys will come into their own.

On the problem of selecting the four overseas players and choosing Ajantha Mendis ahead of Shane Bond: See we have…every team has this issue. Chennai leaves out a Muralidaran, we can only play four. It is not a national side where you just pick your best 11. Mendis did the job for us last game, we thought people like Ross Taylor and Cameron White haven’t played him before, thought we had the quicks to take the help of these conditions, where it was seaming around a bit. But the seamers didn’t bowl well and that didn’t allow Mendis to put the pressure on them.

On losing their momentum after this game: There is no, nothing called momentum in this game. Bangalore had lost four out of five, they came back and smashed us today. We pick ourselves up and play again in two days’ time.

On whether dew was a factor: There was no dew.

On what they are going to do to retrieve their situation: Just go and play and win. Hopefully we [can] pick ourselves up.

On the next match against CSK: We will have to, there is no other option. They are professionals, hopefully they do it. The entire world is watching, the selectors are watching, the captains are watching. If they play like this, good god help their careers.