Kolkata, Apr 11 : A guarded Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir today refused to get carried away with their victory over Deccan Chargers here and said the Shah Rukh-owned team have a long way to go in the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League.
After the shocking two-run loss to Chennai Super Kings in their tournament opener, all eyes were on the Knight Riders in their first home match today and they did not disappoint the crowd, securing a nine-run victory over Deccan to register their first points in the ongoing Twenty20 tournament.
“It was a great feeling. We want to play some good cricket and bring some joy to the people of this city. The venue is fantastic. We hope to win a lot more games. We are hungry and we want to do well,” he said at the post-match press conference.
“We are just happy, not relieved. It's just the start of the tournament. We got a long way to go. I don't believe in a word called relief. I want to take every game seriously. It's a good feeling to get points on the board and we hope to continue with the momentum,” a visibly upbeat Gambhir said.Gambhir said he was confident of a victory after setting Deccan a challenging 164-run target.
“It was a very good total on this slow and low wicket.163 was a par score. We have a good bowling attack as well. Initially we were thinking of 150, but getting to 163 was good,” he said.
Gambhir hailed young left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla, who returned with impressive figures of three for 24 runs from his four overs.“The wicket suited him (Abdulla). We thought he could be used in the first six overs. He is a quality player and has a great future ahead.
“The way he has shown his character bowling in the first six overs and then in the death, it says a lot about him. I hope he can keep his head on his shoulder and it will be a lot more for him,” the left-handed batsman said of Abdulla.
Gambhir insisted that his team was the better side on display today but said Knight Riders should have won their opening fixture against Chennai Super Kings the other day.
“It was not much different. We just played better cricket. I feel we should have won the first game as well.It's how you finish the game is important. Our batting order was flexible and we have the depth,” he said. PTI
