All-rounder tells mid-day how the celebrations were not very different in Bangalore where Kolkata players partied the whole night after beating Kings XI Punjab by three wickets in the final
Kolkata Knight Riders celebrate winning the IPL 7 trophy, Shakib Al hasan (inset)
Kolkata: As Kolkatans burst firecrackers and erupted in joy after the Kolkata Knight Riders won their second Indian Premier League (IPL) title in three years, the celebrations were not very different in Bangalore where the players partied the whole night after beating Kings XI Punjab by three wickets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
View Pictures: King Khan and his Knights party after IPL triumph
Shakib Al Hasan at the domestic airport in Mumbai yesterday. Pic/Kaushik Thanekat
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"We partied the whole night. I reached to my room at 3.30 am, but they (teammates) called me to rejoin the celebrations, so I went came back to my room at 5 am," KKR all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan told mid-day yesterday.
"I needed to pack my bags as I had to catch a flight to Mumbai to attend the Ceat Awards, so I ended up lying on my bed for just half-an-hour," the Bangladeshi added.
Manish Pandey's 50-ball 94 ensured KKR emerged champions for the second time. Batting first, Kings XI Punjab scored a massive 199-4 — thanks to Wriddhiman Saha's brilliant 115. In reply, KKR chased the target with three balls to spare.
'A prefect chase'
"The 2012 triumph will be the most memorable because we won the title for the first time. This time we won nine matches at a stretch including the final. We can't believe it," said the 27-year-old.
Kolkata Knight Riders' players celebrate their IPL-7 triumph over Kings XI Punjab at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday. Pic/PTI
Shakib felt KKR always had control of the game. "Although we lost wickets, we never got bogged down with the pressure of chasing 200. I would say it was a prefect chase — 10 runs an over. We never fell short till the 19th over."
Shakib heaped praise on man-of-the-match Pandey: "When I look back at the initial part of the tournament, we lost four of the first six games. But once we started winning, we began dominating.
As far as the final goes our major batsmen scored runs, but we could chase such a big score because of one man - Manish Pandey. He should have got a 100."
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