CHENNAI: Kolkata Knight Riders, in their quest for the third IPL crown, have been making the right moves. First, they brought back their two-time winning captain Gautam Gambhir as mentor and later, picked the world best left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc to bolster their attack.
KKR chief coach Chandrakant Pandit, too, insists that things are going smoothly and assures that his team is on track to perform to its potential in this edition of the Indian Premier League. "The preparation is going on nicely. All the boys are focussed and eager to perform. They are aware of their roles and are keen to deliver," Pandit told this daily.
While there have been some reports that Shreyas Iyer has had some recurring back problems, Pandit said that the captain is "absolutely fine."He's already played a practice game as well and he's been practicing, so he's absolutely fine. His (Iyer) coming back into the team is a big boost for us as he is a class batter and an able captain," revealed Pandit.
Gambhir has already joined the team and been interacting with Pandit and Iyer, passing on his inputs as a mentor. "Obviously, it's a great inclusion (Gambhir as mentor) and he is a very experienced man who has been with the KKR. He not only has experience of being around in the circuit but has also won the two titles for KKR. It's a big boost for everyone," opined the former India wicketkeeper.
The return of Iyer, who missed out on the last season due to injury, and with the likes of Manish Pandey, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Phil Salt and Rahmanullah Gurbaz KKR has a solid line-up of batters. Starc leads the attack, with Dushmantha Chameera, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, Mujib-Ur-Rahman, left-arm spinner Anukul Roy and Suyash Sharma for support.
"The team composition is very good, we have a very balanced side. The team combination will be decided on the day of the game keeping in mind the surface we are going to play and against whom," said Pandit. "As you mentioned we have some exciting batters and some quality spinners in Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. Both of them are different and are quality spinners. Both have the ability to bowl anywhere. Plus our fast bowling attack is also second to none with Starc leading the attack," added the 62-year old.
Russell on a given day can be a gamechanger with his aggressive batting. He, along with Rinku, can be a good finisher for KKR. "Russell is in good form. He's been batting well. If you see his past performance this season, he's been playing in particular when he played for West Indies. He's well experienced and has played other leagues too," Pandit insisted.
Pandit's mantra for success is to focus totally on one game at a time and then take it from there to build momentum. "Yes, of course we'll have to focus on one match at a time rather than just thinking over the entire season. Of course, it is a long journey and we'll have to prepare in such a way that we win a game and then carry forward the momentum. So it is a continuous process where one tries to constantly improve in order to achieve the goal," explained Pandit.
Pandit has been one of the most successful coaches in domestic cricket having helped several teams win the Ranji Trophy. However, IPL is a different ball game. "It's more than challenging. In the IPL you deal with experienced and matured players. They have enough experience under their belt. I don't try to change (their game), I try to guide them and give them direction in order to achieve the target," he said.
Several team's support staff are under pressure from their team owners. KKR co-owner is none other than Shahrukh Khan. In fact, it has been reported the superstar took a keen interest in bringing back Gambhir. "Absolutely no pressure from any of the owners.
Shahrukh Khan just comes and watches the games, speaks with the boys and encourages them. Ever Since I joined the team there has never been any kind of pressure from Shahrukh. In fact, he is always a great motivator and not only for me, but the entire team,"' signed off Pandit.