Kolkata, Apr 17 : Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne said the eight-wicket loss against Kolkata Knight Riders here today was one of the worst and embarrassing performances of his side in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
Sent into bat, Rajasthan were bundled out for 81 by the Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens here. The home team then chased down the target in 13.5 overs with eight wickets in hand.
“It was a pretty ordinary performance, one of our worst ones,” Warne said after Rajasthan's back-t-back defeat at the hands of Knight Riders.“It was a 130-140 wicket, but there was panic and inexperience. I thought we did well in the last game to get to 160. We were ordinary, pretty embarrassing,” he said.
Warne, who is also the coach of the Jaipur outfit, reminded his boys that they will have to recover quickly to prove their worth in the remainder of the tournament.
“We worked hard, we trained well. We have got three away games now and we have to bounce back,” the former Australian leg-spinner said.Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir hailed his bowlers for restricting Rajasthan inside the 100-run mark.
“Getting the opposition out for 81 was a fantastic effort. Once we got Brett (Lee) and Shakib (Al Hasan) in our team, and (Laxmipathy) Balaji, it is a fantastic attack,” he said.
He, however, warned his team-mates against any complacency and said momentum is the key to success in this tournament.“You cannot take any game in this format lightly. We could not be over-confident, we had to do our job. Once you get the momentum, it is important to continue,” Gambhir said.
Gambhir also had words of appreciation for the cheerful Eden crowd.“I have always said this is a fantastic crowd, and this is the best place to play cricket.”
Man-of-the-match Laxmipathy Balaji, who destroyed Rajasthan with figures of three for 15, said it was one of those lucky days for him where everything he did went off well.
“I think it came out well today. We have been working hard. It is all about courage and discipline and a bit of basics.“What (Lasith) Malinga does is nip the length a bitaround, that is the thing to do. I am trying to do the same in the middle overs,” Balaji said. PTI
