DUBAI: After an impressive outing against Rajasthan Royals, Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti thanked the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) management for always backing them and not letting them go even when they were injured.
Their remarks came as KKR defeated Rajasthan Royals by 37 runs. While chasing 175, Rajasthan was restricted to 137/9 in the allotted twenty overs.
At one stage during their chase, Rajasthan was reduced to 88/8 as KKR bowlers wreaked havoc at the Dubai International Stadium. For KKR, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, and Varun Chakravarthy took two wickets each.
Mavi got the wickets of Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler while Nagarkoti dismissed Robin Uthappa and Riyan Parag. Pat Cummins bowled three overs and conceded just 13 runs. The pacer also bagged the crucial wicket of Royals skipper Steve Smith.
"It felt really good to dismiss both Samson and Buttler. I bowled the ball as I had planned to do. It feels really nice to spend time with the likes of Russell and Cummins. We have mixed up with them, they are always around with us. It feels really good when Venky Mysore sir and Shah Rukh Khan sir come to watch us play. We were injured but the management showed faith in us and we are grateful for that," Mavi told Dinesh Karthik and Nagarkoti in a video posted on iplt20.com.
"I am feeling very good, today I got my debut wickets in the match against Royals, I hope that we continue our winning run. It feels really nice to be around Eoin Morgan. For a player, it is important that he gets opportunities, the management has backed us, for two years, I did not play but still the management backed me, whenever I needed something, the management provided it to me," said Nagarkoti.
Both Mavi and Nagarkoti were injured in the past two seasons of the IPL, but KKR did not let them go.
While batting first, Shubman Gill top-scored for KKR with 47 runs. Eoin Morgan and Andre Russell also played useful knocks of 34 and 24 respectively to take the score to 174/6.
Morgan usually bats at number four or five, but he was sent out to the middle at number six against Rajasthan Royals.
Rajasthan Royals will next take on Royal Challengers Bangalore on October 3 while KKR will lock horns with Delhi Capitals on the same day.